The two favourites in the Finnish presidential elections, former centre-right prime minister Alexander Stubbs and former Green foreign minister Pekka Haavisto will go to a second round on 11 February, while EU commissioner Jutta Urpilainen crashed out with just 4.4%, blaming her defeat in part on the European Commission’s rules on the candidacy of commissioners.
As expected in the polls, two favourites in the Finnish presidential election will face each other in a second round. Stubb of the National Coalition Party (NCP) won 27.2% of the vote, while Haavisto won 25.8%.
The second-round winner will succeed incumbent President Sauli Niinisto, who is stepping down after two six-year terms.
“We were supposed to make it to the final”, said Stubb in his acceptance speech on Sunday, adding that the race is just starting and vowing to “work like crazy”.
Haavisto was also pleased with the results in his speech but insisted that his campaign needed more money for the second round.
“All the money we have received has been spent, we need more now. Even a small donation to the campaign is valuable at this stage,” said Haavisto.
The profiles of the two candidates still in the running, with their strong focus on international affairs and diplomacy, reflect the particularly tense context in which the country finds itself.
Stubb has held various ministerial positions, including foreign and finance minister, and was leader of the National Coalition Party (EPP), currently leading the ruling coalition. However, he left Finnish politics in 2017 to become vice-president of the European Investment Bank.
Stubb’s interest in foreign affairs developed during his early work in the Finnish Foreign Ministry, prompted his return to politics and his candidacy for the presidency is motivated by concern over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and he has the support of the current prime minister, Petteri Orpo.
A popular and experienced politician, his opponent, Pekka Haavisto from the Green Party, has a colourful political history, having served as Finland’s foreign minister, minister for development cooperation and minister for the environment.
Despite being the runner-up in the 2012 and 2018 presidential elections, he is highly regarded and has topped recent opinion polls. Known for his diplomatic work, Haavisto notably served as the EU’s special envoy to Darfur and, if elected, would be Finland’s first openly gay president.
Defeat for Commission’s Social Democrat candidate
On the other hand, Jutta Urpilainen, the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic and main opposition party, the SDP, has fallen far behind the frontrunners in the presidential election with 4.4%.
According to Urpilainen, the late start to the campaign could have affected the result but defended her decision to put her duties as European commissioner for international partnerships on hold.
“I didn’t really have a choice, the European Commission has very strict rules for commissioners’ election campaigns”, Urpilainen said.
The result is also weak compared to the SDP’s support in last spring’s parliamentary elections. At that time, the SDP received around 20% of the vote. The party remains, however, the largest in the opposition.
Previous presidential elections have been difficult for the SDP, too. In 2012, former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen received 6.7% of the vote. In 2018, Tuula Haatainen’s support was 3.2%
The Social Democrats’ last successful presidential candidate was 18 years ago, when President Tarja Halonen was elected to a second term in 2006.
(Charles Szumski and Europe Elects)
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Source: euractiv.com
