The Centre party saw their support drop by nearly seven percentage points compared with the last election. Leader Mari Kiviniemi conceded that the party will now head for a spell in opposition. The Green League also lost support. Party chair Anni Sinnemäki said that the Greens, too, would begin the new parliamentary term in opposition.

Government formation is expected to be difficult, with True Finns’ leader Timo Soini driving a hard bargain on support for eurozone economies among other issues. Social Democrat chair Jutta Urpilainen, nevertheless, said that the populist True Finns deserved a place in government after their strong showing in the ballot.

YLE pundit Risto Uimonen agreed, stating that there was no way the True Finns could now be left out of the negotiations on forming a new government. He warned, though, that the negotiations would be harder than at any time since the 1970s.

The results mark the first time the National Coalition party have ever won the most support in a Finnish election. The government parties as a whole, however, lost 28 seats altogether.

Portuguese Media Nervous On Finnish Election Results

Q&A on the Finnish Parliamentary Elections

Kiviniemi: Centre Into Opposition

Soini: Today is Payday

Katainen: We've Made History

Soini: Government Formation May Be Hard

Urpilainen: Silver Is No Shame

Sinnemäki: Greens Headed For Opposition

Voter Turnout Tops 70%