Yle will host a leadership debate on the Thursday evening before the last polling day for the provincial election on Sunday, January 23, and a party poll published earlier in the day will add new dimensions to the debate.
Opposition Party (NCP), led by Petteri Orpo, reached the top of the vote again and increased its leadership with the Prime Minister Sanna MarinSDP, currently in second place.
However, the biggest fluctuations in support were seen just behind the two front fronts, the Center chaired as chairman Annika Saarikko, enjoys a 2.4 percentage point drop in voter support to rise to third place in the poll, replacing Riikka Purra-managed by Basic Finns, whose support fell by more than 3 percentage points.
The rankings of Yle’s latest survey were also visible throughout the conversation, with Marin often suing Orpo and Purikko against Saarikko.
However, Marin and Orpo are both trying to clarify the social and health policies of their parties, while Saarikko and Purra struggled with the hearts and minds of the same voters.
Marin v Orpo
NCP chairman Orpo spoke in Thursday night’s debate about his party’s plans to curb rising social and health care costs.
One of the options proposed by Orpo – a policy dear to his party – was for public sector agencies to publish their expenses transparently.
"When we have these [costs], we can always choose the most suitable service provider," He said, adding that this is not an ideological issue for his party, but is based on the belief that the cheapest and best service provider must be chosen.
However, Marin challenged Orpo with the idea that service competition should be largely based on price.
"For example, in the case of services for people with disabilities, children in childcare services or many vulnerable groups, price must not be the deciding factor. Quality should matter" Marin claimed.
The parties also disagreed on the staffing quotas required for 24-hour intensive care, which the NCP has claimed to consume human resources from home care services. The SDP, for its part, has taken the position that health care resources should not be stretched so much that workers run out.
Although the discussions between Marin and Orpo revealed little in the way of politics, it further clarified the profile of both parties. However, the SDP and NCP will not compete directly for the same voters in this election because their ideologies are already well established.
This week’s All Points North podcast looked at how voters can decide who to vote for in Sunday’s regional election. You can listen to the entire podcast on the embedded player here, through Yle Arena, Spotify, Apple podcasts or on your regular podcast player using an RSS feed.
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Saarikko: Basic Finns should also try to solve problems
The chairman of the Center, Saarikko, challenged Purra, the leader of the Peruvian Finns, throughout the discussion, arguing that although Purra’s party can point out social and health care problems, they are not as quick to provide solutions.
"Riikka Purra, I want to tell you, and it may be that this is just my own experience. In every speech you say that everything is going wrong. Is it not precisely because elections are being elected to the provincial council who are able to solve these problems?" The archipelago asked.
Purra referred to an article in a monthly newspaper Municipal newspaper A publication and an interview produced by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities Tarja MyllärinenAssociation for Social Change, in which Myllärinen had said that there were very strong reasons for postponing regional social and health reform.
Purra added that the money allocated for reform is not enough to cover all the promises made by the government.
Clashes in the coalition
Interim leader of the Green Party Iiris Suomela also challenged Marin over the so-called “therapy guarantee”, which would set a one-month deadline for people to access mental health services.
"I repeat the question to the Prime Minister because you have repeatedly pointed out that the guarantee of care would include a guarantee of therapy. This is not yet the case, but the round of negotiations is over and feedback has been received. Will this be fixed?" Suomela asked.
Marin denied his promise that the care guarantee included a therapy guarantee, but added that the seven-day care guarantee would also include mental health services.
"The person will be contacted and given the path he or she needs," Marin replied.
It is important that social and health care professionals take a holistic view of all the problems people suffer, Marin said, adding that mental health problems are often caused by substance abuse.
"I would also like to remind you that the Greens are the ruling party," Marin said judging that he did not appreciate what he considered to be the interim leader of the Green Party, who was trying to collect political points at the expense of his coalition partners.
Source: The Nordic Page