After Predecessor's Scandal, Fennlaand's New Prime Minister Tries to Gain Public Trust

After her predecessor's scandalous removal from Korisaari House, the new Prime Minister, Eeva Hämäläinen, faces a difficult challenge to regain the public's trust in her and her party. We go to Tülinn in order to see where the new leader stands with her people, and what her next steps are.

Tülinn is a city which rests on the banks of the Northern Sea. Wooden homes line narrow streets along the inlets leading to the city, with pine forests stretching in every direction for miles. This picturesque and tranquil landscape has recently been rocked, however, after the Tulinnin Sanomat reported that former Prime Minister Herkko Jaakola had given nearly CA 1.1 million in campaign money to his wife for “consultation” in his election campaign - a breach of campaign financing laws which forbids giving funds to yourself or a family member.

In the center of the city is the Federal Parliament, a building built as the home of Fennlaand's kings in the colonial period and became the home of parliament after the Blue Revolution of 1849, when the modern Fennlaandic state was founded. This chamber has since been controlled by two factions: The Centre-Left predominantly, with periods of Centre-Right rule, usually in opposition to an unpopular minister or policy. The current parliament is in a coalition between the Centre-Left, Greens, Solidarity Party, and New Democracy Party.

These parties, leaning to the left, have been in government for the past two years, and each of them have been in a government with at least some other party the entirety of their existence: for example, there has never been a Fennlaandic government formed without the Centre-Left.

But as Prime Minister Jaakola took the podium in Parliament and lied to its members faces, the bonds of brotherhood between these parties have become strained.

"I think the Centre-Left Party needs to take a look at itself and its leadership" said Solidarity Party leader Henrik Koivu "We need leadership we can trust."

It was not the parties of the right that ended up motioning to remove Jaakola from power, but a revolt from the left, with the more progressive caucus of the Centre-Left allying with the Greens and Solidarity to trigger a vote of no confidence, something that had never been accomplished against a sitting Prime Minister.

"I think it was the right thing to do" said residents of Tülinn at the time. "No one is above the law, he needed to be removed."

Once Jaakola had been removed there were questions of where to go next. Should the Centre-Left, his party, continue their role as the governing party? Should the coalition continue, or call a snap election? Or should they support a new party in government? The parties would agree on allowing the Centre-Left to keep their leadership as polls suggested under interim Prime Minister Jori Saari, the CLP's polling numbers had stabilized.

"I think she is doing an excellent job" says Ari Talo, the owner of a shoe store in the town of Aspoo "She really took the people's concerns about Jaakola to heart, and she is making changes."

"I think she is doing an adequate job, but its too early to tell" says Joona Viitanen, a single father in Laakoni, as he prepares to pick up his daughter from school. "I am a Middle Party voter, so I am not really for either side. I like what she has planned, but she has only been in there about a month, let her do some more and I will have an opinion."

But others, especially from the far right movements in society, a small fraction of Fenns who have grown dissatisfied with the government's left winged agenda, call for new elections, and claim Prime Minister Hämäläinen has no mandate democratically.

"I think that, if Eeva Hämäläinen really wanted a democratic reform, she would call snap elections." says Yrjö Laakkonen, a town councilor for the far right populist "People's Party" in Aarinen - a rural farming village. "She wants the people to trust her, but doesn't ask the people what they want. It is just a continuation of Jaakola."

Protests against the Centre-Left even broke out last weekend in Aspoo, as far right protestors called for fresh elections, the removal of Eeva Hämäläinen, and the participation of the People's Party in any new government. Something that all political analysts have said will not happen.

"Fennlaand is in crisis at the moment" says political analyst Eleonoora Tuominen for, ABO Entertainment. "The country has never had a Prime Minister removed, and the Centre-Left have never been as unpopular as they are at this moment, so it is easy to see how many, especially on the right, think this is a shift of politics in the country."

"You don't think so?" we ask Tuominen "The Centre-Right are neck-in-neck with the governing party, I would say that is a drastic change."

"Yes, but there are other factors to consider" she says "Look at Hämäläinen's approval rate personally: 67% is amazingly high for the leader of a party in a crisis. Further, if you look at the polling, yes the Centre-Right and Centre-Left are neck-in-neck, but look why. The voters left the Centre-Left and have seemingly shifted to the Middle Party and the Greens, with the Centre-Right's numbers remaining stagnant: something that is not good for the opposition party. If you are going into an election as an opposition party, and the government is in turmoil, you are wanting to see your numbers increase, not stagnate."

"Do you think these polling numbers are temporary?" we ask her.

"It is too soon to say" she says "she has only been in office for a month and a half, but the fact that the Centre-Left's numbers have already stopped falling, and given her own personal approval ratings, it is not looking all too bad for the new Prime Minister."

Only time will tell if Eeva Hämäläinen really has regained the trust of the public. With two years to go until the election, she has plenty of time to work policy. But all in all, it is a good start here in Tulinn for a Prime Minister who is the leader of a government in turmoil.