Main Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat leads with an in-depth article on how Interior Minister Petteri Orpo’s popularity as the potential new leader of the National Coalition Party has surpassed that of current leader, Finance Minister Alexander Stubb.
According to surveys carried out by Helsingin Sanomat (HS), as soon as Orpo announced his candidacy during week 18, support for him within the party and the general public quickly grew. Of the general public, 24 percent support Orpo, 13 percent support Stubb, while 2 percent support Elina Lepomäki, who announced her candidacy earlier in April.
One thousand Finnish residents were interviewed, 500 before Orpo announced his candidacy and the other 500 after Orpo's announcement. "The change was dramatic," writes HS: Before Orpo’s announcement 16 percent supported Stubb, after Orpo's decision to run for party chair was made public, support for Stubb dropped to 10 percent while support for Orpo rose to 34 percent.
Drinking co-workers
According to a TNS Gallup survey commissioned by EHYT, a preventative substance abuse organisation, every second Finn reported having had a co-worker who drank too much alcohol, writes HS. Groups most affected were middle-aged and older workers, entrepreneurs, and those with large incomes.
Responding to the survey results, Kristiina Hannula, director of EHYT said that the sustainability gap would lighten significantly if the harm caused in the work place by alcohol abuse decreased. About 68 percent of respondents said that their workplace would be more productive without the effects of co-workers' alcohol abuse.
Remembering singer Riki Sorsa (1952-2016)
HS’s sister tabloid Ilta-Sanomat devotes its cover and a 7-page feature to the memory and prolific career of Finnish singer Riki Sorsa, who died of lung cancer at home on Tuesday.
Sorsa, 63, one of Finland’s most popular singers, recorded more than 20 albums, and was Finland’s Eurovision representative in 1981 with his song "Reggae OK".
He was diagnosed in 2006 with throat cancer. After he recovered and went on to sing again, Sorsa also became an ambassador for cancer associations and travelled around Finland speaking about the illness.
In Turku’s Turun Sanomat newspaper, Sorsa is remembered by fellow musician Pedros Hietanen as the perfect gentleman: "I don’t know whether it was his upbringing or something else, but he was always very well-mannered and polite towards everyone.”