Centre Party leader Annika Saarikko said on Monday that her party will join the opposition after its second consecutive electoral defeat.
"The Centre has faced a historic election defeat. Only one conclusion can be drawn from the result: our place is in the opposition," Saarikko wrote in a press release.
The party lost eight seats in the 200-seat parliament, dropping from 31 to 23. That is down from 55 two decades ago, when it was the largest party in the legislature.
Saarikko noted that public support is required to be able to take part in government work and to make difficult decisions, and the Centre does not have that now.
"The election result is clear: the people want the Centre to be in opposition," she said.
While not unexpected, the elimination of the Centre as a possible government partner could make it more difficult for the election winner, National Coalition Party chair Petteri Orpo, to assemble a right-leaning majority coalition in parliament.
Centre aims to regain major-party status
Saarikko, 39, said that she will evaluate her own position as chair of the Centre during the spring. She has led the party since September 2020, when she replaced Katri Kulmuni. Saarikko has served as finance minister since May 2021 after holding two other cabinet positions since 2017.
Saarikko noted that the party has been in government for eight years and lost support at the end of both government terms, indicating that Finns' trust in the party has dropped drastically.
She added that the main task of the next few years is to return the Centre to its long-held status as one of Finland's major parties.
"It's time to clarify the meaning of our existence," she said.
The party was established in 1906 as the Agrarian League, taking on its current name in 1965, during the 25-year administration of its former chair, President Urho Kekkonen.
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