World News | Finland's Center-right Claims Victory in Tight Election

Helsinki, Apr 3 (AP) Finland's center-right National Coalition Party claimed victory with 97.7% of votes counted in Sunday's extremely tight three-way parliamentary race, appearing to beat the ruling Social Democrats led by Prime Minister Sanna Marin.

With the top three parties expected to each get around 20% of the vote, no party is in position to form a government alone.

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“Based on this result, talks over forming a new government to Finland will be initiated under the leadership of the National Coalition Party,” said the party's leader Petteri Orpo, as he claimed victory surrounded by supporters.

The National Coalition Party was on top with 20.7%, followed closely by the right-wing populist party The Finns with 20.1%, while the Social Democrats garnered 19.9%.

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Marin remains popular at home but her party's views on the Finnish economy, which emerged as the main campaign theme, were being challenged by conservatives.

Over 2,400 candidates from 22 parties were vying for the 200 seats in the Nordic country's parliament. ((AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)