People in Finland head to the polls for a dual election in April – and healthcare is the most pressing issue on their minds, according to a survey published on Saturday by the Foundation for Municipal Development (Kaks).
Some 95 percent of respondents said they consider health services to be a very or fairly important issue, while more than 90 percent pointed to care for the elderly as an important theme. Employment was rated as the third biggest topic, with 90 percent of respondents seeing it as important or fairly important.
On the other hand, almost 60 percent of those polled said that municipal mergers are not an important question. Just over 40 percent of respondents said the same about cultural services, while immigration was considered unimportant by slightly less than 40 percent.
In the municipal election, voters – including permanent foreign residents – will choose candidates for city and municipal councils, which oversee local services including education, transport and waste management.
In the regional election, which is held at the same time, citizens elect councils to run wellbeing services counties, which run health, social and emergency services in 21 regions around the country. Election day for both is 13 April, with advance voting starting on 2 April.
According to Kaks, members of the public do not necessarily have a clear picture of how the responsibility for local services are divided between municipalities and wellbeing services counties.
Among supporters of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s National Coalition Party, issues such as state indebtedness and municipal mergers are more important than average, while marginalisation and cultural services are less important than average.
According to the survey, supporters of the other main government party, the nationalist Finns Party, are more focused on immigration and taxation in these elections, and less on environmental and nature conservation, as well as library and cultural services.
State debt and immigration are not directly affected by the municipal and regional bodies chosen in these elections.
Opposition supporters list different concerns
In contrast, supporters of the main opposition Social Democratic Party list marginalisation, poverty and cultural services at the top of their list. Reducing government debt is seen as less important among the party's supporters in these elections.
Among the other larger opposition parties, supporters of the Centre consider the development of industries and government debt to be important themes, while backers of the Greens see environmental protection and public transport as crucial themes. Left Alliance supporters also put environmental protection and library and cultural services at the top of their list of concerns.
Polling agency Verian interviewed just over 1,000 adults in November and December for the survey. It estimates the margin of error at just under three percentage points in either direction.