The Greens and the Social Democrats laid out their visions for the next government’s policies at conferences over the weekend.
Finland's main political opposition group, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) launched its annual party conference in Tampere on Saturday.
Party chair Antti Lindtman is set to be re-elected for a second term on Saturday. He is running unopposed.
Opinion polls have shown the SDP with a commanding lead for many months, suggesting that Lindtman is in prime position to succeed PM Petteri Orpo (NCP) after next April’s election, barring any dramatic, unforeseen changes.
Lindtman, who is 43, has led the SDP since 2023, when his predecessor Sanna Marin, stepped down. Lindtman has represented Uusimaa in Parliament since 2011.
On Sunday, the SDP elected three deputy chairs, the party secretary and the party council chair. Five MPs were vying to be vice-chairs, including two incumbents.
Afghan-born Nasima Razmyar was re-elected by a wide margin as the party's first deputy chair, a post she has held since 2023.
Niina Malm and Pinja Perholehto won the other two vice-chair seats, while Mikkel Näkkäläjärvi was unanimously re-elected as party secretary.
The SDP party conference wraps up on Monday with a speech by Lindtman in which he is to lay out the party’s key policy positions ahead of next spring’s parliamentary election.
Lindtman revealed some of those stances in his opening address on Saturday to the party faithful in Tampere.
He promised many employment reforms including the criminalisation of underpayment, the right of unions to sue and expanding corporate liability.
The SDP leader promised to "restore the honour of Finnish work and workers' rights", adding that "the rights of Finnish workers can no longer be trampled on!"
On foreign policy, he called for the recognition of the state of Palestine as part of a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis.
The opposition leader also committed to Finland’s target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2035, which was enshrined in law during Marin’s term as prime minister.
"We will build Finland into the world's first carbon-neutral welfare state," he pledged.
Virta: "More and more Finns are in need"
Meanwhile, the Greens are meeting in Turku this weekend in their last regular party conference before next spring's parliamentary election.
Greens chair Sofia Virta said she, too, is aiming for the prime minister’s office – a long shot since her party currently ranks fifth out of the eight main parties in Parliament, according to opinion polls.
At a press conference, Virta slammed the Orpo government's economic policies.
"At the same time as people are being told that everything has to be cut and that we can't afford anything better, more and more Finns are in need," she said.
Instead of building a common Finland for future generations, politics is too often conducted only from the perspective of one's own interest groups, one's own supporters and the next election, she alleged.
Virta argued that the Greens have been pioneers on environmental issues, opposition to fur farming, and the defence of education, among other issues.
The 35-year-old Virta has helmed the Greens for nearly three years. A native of Kaarina, near Turku, she was elected to Parliament in 2019.
24 May, 11.28am: Updated with SDP party secretary's re-election.
24 May, 2.19pm: Updated with SDP deputy chairs' election, changed lead and main photo.
