Back here in Finland, it's general election time. Sunday is the election day, then we will know which 200 men and women will represent us for the next 4 years.

It's possible to vote in advance, so I've already cast my vote, just like 1.5 million other Finns. A huge number, when you consider that there are about 5 million of us and everyone over 18 can vote.

This year, I allowed ch to have a say in my vote. I did 4 online "election machines", test, which can reveal which candidates share the similar thoughts and values. Then I made a list of the top candidates and got to know them; their age, gender, personality, political background, opinions, general views, job history, family and what they're planning to work for if elected/re-elected.

My main concern was healthcare. I wanted to know if it mattered to the candidates and if they were interested in making it better. One still needs to wait too long to see a neurologist, for starters.

So, after all that research, I went and did my duty. I voted for someone who has a strong background in local and national politics, who does actively work on the matters which matter a lot to me and most of all, is a woman.

isnt your country pretty socialistic when it comes to healthcare/taxes...

I know one of your neighbors certainly is...

sandie99 wrote on Apr 13^th, 2011 at 11:57am:

Back here in Finland, it's general election time. Sunday is the election day, ...

This is different than here, but I'd imagine more people are free on a Sunday to make it an occasion for greater participation.

Good work, Sanna.



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I voted for someone who has a strong background in local and national politics, who does actively work on the matters which matter a lot to me and most of all, is a woman.

I hope she wins for you.    :)

It is true that our country is doing well in many ways, but when you have a tiny chance to make it better, why not give it a try?

This year, two parties won the election - the (scariest) party called True Finns, which got 18 percent (which is a lot, they got about 8 percent 4 years ago) of the votes and Rainbow coalition, now the biggest party (the first time in their history) with their 20 percent.

The 3 biggest parties will now form a new goverment, but it will not be easy, a far cry from it. They disagree with pretty much everything. ::)

True Finns have scary ideas and ideology. Thanks to financial crisis, they were able to turn people away from the traditional parties in their favor with their critical voice. The interesting thing is that I'm yet to hear what they actually suggest in return - other than saying no to all refugees, stopping all environment projects and quit helping developing countries. If it would be up to them, Finland would not support other European countries and would heavily invest in the army.

It will be interesting to see what will happen during the next few weeks. 

Good news was that the lady I voted for got nicely votes and she was elected. :)

Sanna

I was passing a television tuned to late-night CNN, I think it was  early Monday morning, and they were interviewing a woman from the True Finn party.  I was surprised to see Finn results being discussed and thought of you and your post here. 

All I caught was a short discussion on how they don't like the EU bailout of Portugal, that was all I could stay for in a short minute.  Wish I could have listened to more about them, but it wasn't possible at the time.  The interviewer seemed a bit surprised at some answers as I tried to continue watching from a farther distance, but couldn't hear what was said.




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Good news was that the lady I voted for got nicely votes and she was elected.

:)