CONSERVATIVES MAKE MAJOR GAINS IN FINNISH POLLS
Finland's Conservatives emerged with
major general election gains after a swing away from the left.
    Conservative Party leader Ilkka Suominen told reporters
"they can't keep us out of government now" after the Party gained
nine Parliamentary seats in elections held on Sunday and
Monday, taking its total to 53 seats.
    With 99 pct of votes counted, Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa's
Social Democratic Party had lost just one seat despite a 2.5
pct drop in support.
    The Social Democrats held 57 seats in the last 200-seat
parliament, the Conservatives 44 and the Centre Party 37.
    It may take weeks for the political complexion of the new
government to take shape as major parties negotiate to see
which grouping can form a majority. But the result is expected
to be a change from the outgoing centre-left coalition.
    Political commentators said the results will have
far-reaching implications as they showed a significant swing
from the left, which has dominated post-war Finnish politics.
    Despite the Conservative revival, commentators said there
would be no immediate change in foreign policy, which is
moulded by Finland's sensitive position in the shadow of the
neighbouring Soviet Union.
    The environmentalist "Greens" doubled their seats in
parliament to four, although opinion polls had forecast they
would win 10.
    The Communists split for the first time into pro-Moscow
Stalinists and Eurocommunists. The Eurocommunists retained
their 17 seats, while the Stalinists, expelled from the
official Communist Party in 1986, lost six of their 10 seats.
 REUTER
