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Minister of Finance Riikka Purra (PS) has similar seen her stock decline in the eyes of the public, with the share of respondents who assessed her performance negatively jumping 18 points to 59 per cent. Similarly to Orpo, she was assessed to have performed very or fairly well by a quarter of respondents. Over a quarter, or 28 per cent, of respondents estimated that the coalition government has performed its duties at very well (5%) or fairly well (21%), whereas 50 per cent of respondents viewed its performance in a poor (29%) or very poor (21%) light.
Almost a quarter, or 23 per cent, of respondents had a neutral view of its performance. Minister for Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen (NCP) was assessed to have performed at least fairly well by 47 per cent of respondents, marking an up-tick of one point from last year. Minister of Employment Arto Satonen (NCP) received a positive evaluation from 19 per cent of respondents, a six-point improvement from last year.
Both Valtonen and Satonen, however, also saw an increase in negative assessments. The poll results align with those of so-called citizens’ pulse studies conducted by Statistics Finland, Johanna Vuorelma , a political scientist at the University of Helsinki, said in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday, 31 December. “They indicate that citizens’ experiences of inequalities in society have been rising during the tenure of Orpo’s government,” she elaborated.
Statistics Finland launched the monthly study in 2020 in order to gauge public views on various societal institutions. The study series was discontinued at the end last year due to the cost-savings pursued by the government. Vuorelma estimated that spending cuts are an obvious reason for the increasingly negative assessments of government performance, even though the studies were purely quantitive.
Austerity, she reminded, also hammered the approval ratings of the government of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä (Centre). Orpo also does not possess the charisma of his immediate predecessor, Sanna Marin (SDP). The reasons may also include the reportedly intense discord within the Parliament’s Social Affairs and Health Committee, social media posts about spending cuts by Purra, and various racism-related controversies surrounding the Finns Party.
The controversies may have dented the moral authority of Orpo, according to Vuorelma. Markku Jokisipilä , the director of the Centre for Parliamentary Studies at the University of Turku, agreed with Vuorelma in that the Finns Party, given its divisiveness, can increase negative views of the entire government. The populist right-wing party has also shaken up traditional ways of doing politics and communicating policies.
“Off the top of my head I can’t think of another case where some members of a parliamentary group are continuing to operate with the same play book they had in the opposition,” he remarked, pointing to the public disputes between Orpo and Jani Mäkelä, the chairperson of the Finns Party Parliamentary Group. It is highly unusual, he added, that some lawmakers have not complied with the tradition of keeping internal tensions from spilling out into the public and have openly criticised the prime minister. Orpo has, though, succeeded as a leader in the sense that the government has been able to implement its action plan according to plan.
He believes the results have also been influenced by the ideology that runs through policy decisions made by what is a “historically right-wing government” that has given rise to a stronger opposition and affected public views. The poll also reflects the gendered nature of political affiliation, Jokisipilä said to Helsingin Sanomat. “Even men aren’t terribly satisfied with Orpo’s government, but they’re clearly more satisfied than women.
” Helsingin Sanomat commissioned the poll from Verian. The market research company interviewed 1,034 people on its online panel on 13–19 December. The poll results have a margin of error of 3.
1 percentage points. Aleksi Teivainen – HT.
