Finland's centre-left Social Democratic Party is facing the tough task of trying to form a government coalition after becoming the Nordic country's largest party by an extremely narrow margin following Sunday's highly fragmented parliamentary election.
With all votes counted on Monday, the party led by Antti Rinne took 17.7 per cent of votes and 40 seats in the Eduskunta legislature, far from the 101 seats needed for a majority.
Right behind came the populist Finns Party with 17.5 per cent, while the conservative National Coalition party took the third spot with 17 per cent of votes. Outgoing Prime Minister Juha Sipila's Centre Party was fourth with 13.8 per cent.
Tackling climate change and reforming Finland's social and health care system were key topics in the vote where established parties lost support to populists in line with an overall European trend.
