SDP tops in popularity: Poll

A fresh poll indicated that the Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue (Social Democratic Party of Finland-SDP) of Prime Minister Sanna Marin has regained its position as the most popular party, reported news agency Xinhua quoting a poll commissioned by the Alma Media publishing company. The poll gave SDP a 21.1 percent backing.

The SDP was the most popular party in the April 2019 election but lost its standing later to the populist Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party).

The Alma poll is one of the three leading opinion polls in Finland. The poll was carried for a week from March 20 when Finland was already under heavy restrictions on daily life due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The five-party coalition government under Marin has been taking a series of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, such as closing schools throughout the country, closing the country's borders and blocking the Uusimaa region including the capital area, where the epidemic is the most serious. Some of the measures were considered by local media as unprecedented.

Compared to the February poll, the SDP had added 4.4 percentage points, mainly from previous backers of the Perussuomalaiset but also from the Vihreä Liitto (Green League). The new poll found that the opposition Perussuomalaiset garnered a 20.1 percent support, following the SDP, while Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party), the other major opposition party, got 16.8 percent.