(Bloomberg) -- Finland’s election winner, Social Democrat leader Antti Rinne, set a preliminary timetable for talks to form a government.
Rinne targets sending questionnaires to other parties on April 26, and expects responses by April 30, he told reporters in Helsinki on Thursday. After a quick analysis of the responses and any follow up questions, he plans to start formal negotiations on a common platform for the coalition on May 6 with select parties.
“The timetable is tight and there’s little room for failure,” he said. “It would be good to have a decision by May 27, but it isn’t set in stone and there is some room for maneuver.”
Rinne, who won Sunday’s election with a hair-thin margin of 7,666 votes against the populist Finns Party, is expected to be given the mandate to form a government, as he represents the parliament’s biggest party.
Rinne needs at least one of the three large parties in his coalition to secure a parliamentary majority. The talks are likely to be difficult, as his s clash with the populists’ and the Center Party’s massive loss means it may prefer the opposition, giving the National Coalition leverage in negotiations with the Social Democrats.
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