Recent polls from various institutes suggest that South Africa is heading for coalition government, possibly at the national level, but certainly at the provincial level of government. To this end, given the long historical experience of coalition governments in Finland, the Inclusive Society Institute (ISI) hosted a panel discussion via webinar on Coalition Government: Lessons from Finland.
Following the opening remarks of HE Anne Lamilla, Ambassador of Finland to South Africa, and a presentation of recent party support polling data by ISI CEO Daryl Swanepoel, three prominent experts on Finnish Coalitions, made presentations, which were followed by lively discussions.
Ms Liisa Laakso, from the Nordic Africa Institute, spoke on Multi-Party Government: Sharing power or building a coalition? Ms Virva Viljanen, from Demo Finland, spoke on the legal framework and best practices of coalition government in Finland. And Prof Jenni Karimäki, from the University of Helsinki, spoke on Finnish traditions regarding the building and maintenance of coalition government.
