Finland will hold two local elections at the same time next year.
In the municipal election, voters will choose candidates for city and municipal councils, which have responsibility for local services such as schools, public transport and waste management.
In the county election on the other hand, candidates will stand for election to county councils — also known as wellbeing service counties — which decide on the organisation and provision of healthcare, social services and emergency services in their region.
Election day for both polls is Sunday 13 April, with advance voting from 2-8 April, and parties must submit their candidate lists by 4 March.
However, as political parties begin the task of filling those lists, many are reporting a reluctance among potential candidates to run in either election.
This is due in part to the bleak financial outlook facing many regional healthcare authorities, with redundancy talks ongoing in many regions against a backdrop of ever-tightening austerity measures.
Many regional healthcare authorities across the country face tough decisions in the short-term future, which those elected to office in the county election will ultimately have to make.
Municipalities are also facing an uncertain financial future, making the role of municipal councillor seem like a thankless task to many potential candidates.
Parties report problems in recruitment
Yle asked the party secretaries of Finland's main political parties how candidate recruitment has been going so far.
Mikko Rekimies, party secretary of the Christian Democrats, noted that there have been some challenges, especially in light of public discussion about the future of the regional welfare authorities.
"For example, some people are worried that their own area will be merged with another area. Another big question is funding and how it will be handled. This has raised questions for some about how meaningful it will be to run in these elections," Rekimies told Yle.
Other parties reported similar issues, with Movement Now's party secretary Petteri Redsven telling Yle that more work needs to be done to get people involved in politics in general.
Harri Vuorenpää, party secretary of the Finns Party, meanwhile noted that potential candidates are taking longer than usual to decide whether or not to run in the election — and that this applies to both the municipal and the county polls.
"It may be that the economic situation has affected people's behaviour. People are aware of the financial challenges faced by both municipalities and regions, which increases their need to consider whether or not to run for office," Vuorenpää said.
However, not all parties are reporting the same struggles in recruiting candidates. Swedish People's Party Secretary Fredrik Gusef told Yle that the party's recruitment efforts are progressing smoothly, while Green Party Secretary Anna Moring said there are always "different challenges" in candidate recruitment but this is nothing out of the ordinary.
Holding multiple seats
This point was further echoed by Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi of the Social Democratic Party, who said the party has many candidates keen to run in both elections.
"More and more people seem to be going for both, because they see benefits in terms of both influencing the issues as well as in campaigning," Näkkäläjärvi said.
It is possible under Finnish law for a politician to hold different local and even national positions at the same time. Around 70 percent of the current crop of county councillors are also municipal councillors.
A number of MPs are also members of county and municipal councils.
The Left Alliance and Movement Now parties are the only two main political parties in Finland who recommended that their members run in either the county or municipal elections, but not both. All the other main parties have no such guideline.
Researcher: Expectations not realised
The role of county councillors was created after Finland's historic social and healthcare reform — nicknamed 'sote' — was signed into law in 2021.
The first county council election was held in January 2022, and the first term has been studied by researchers at the University of Tampere.
Anni Jäntti, a lecturer in Local Government and Regional Management at Tampere University, told Yle that the research has revealed widespread frustration among county councillors. Many feel disappointed by their perceived inability to bring about meaningful change in how social and healthcare services are provided in their regions.
In addition, the study also found that municipal councillors feel the county councils have not taken the needs of their wider communities sufficiently into account when making decisions on social and healthcare matters.
"For example, decisions to close health centres are very heavy and very difficult for municipalities, and they directly affect the operating conditions of municipalities and their residents," Jäntti noted.
This experience of first-term county councillors, combined with the bleak financial outlook for the next term, make candidates' apparent reluctance to run understandable, she added.
"I think this past council term has shown that the expectations of what you can do as a regional councillor have not been realised. The role has been very different, and this will certainly influence the willingness to stand in these forthcoming elections," Jäntti said.
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