REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, HELSINKI -- Finland's conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb conceded his left-right government's defeat in Sunday's general election at the hands of the opposition Centre Party, after a campaign dominated by the country's struggling economy.
"It seems as though the Centre has won. Congratulations," Stubb told Finnish public radio and television YLE after around 70 percent of the votes had been counted.
Centre Party leader Juha Sipila, a 53-year-old IT millionaire and newcomer to politics, is widely expected to become Finland's next prime minister.
His liberal-agrarian party was seen taking 48 of 200 seats in parliament, a YLE projection showed with 94 percent of votes counted.
The rightwing eurosceptic Finns Party surged in late ballot counting on Sunday evening and was seen becoming the country's second-biggest party, garnering 38 seats.
Stubb's conservative National Coalition Party was meanwhile expected to win 37 seats and the Social Democrats 34 seats.
"I'm really pleased with these results," Sipila said.
His first task will be to pick his coalition partners. Tradition dictates that the largest party takes the post of prime minister and forms a government with the other largest parties to obtain a majority in parliament.
Several weeks of thorny negotiations are expected before Sipila is able to present a coalition, and he has not yet revealed which parties he would like to collaborate with.
Sipila campaigned heavily on his business know-how, vowing to get the eurozone country's economy back on track after three years of recession and stagnation, austerity and failed reforms.
Voters were disgruntled with Stubb's four-party left-right government coalition, which has been paralyzed by internal discord and unable to push through any real policy changes.
"We need in the near future new growth in employment and we also need a leadership (culture) change in Finland and a lot has to happen to take Finland out of the crisis," Sipila told AFP after Sunday's results came in.
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