Candidates: Globalisation is predominantly beneficial to Finland

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Six out of ten candidates in the Parliamentary elections either fully or somewhat agree that globalisation and free trade have basically a beneficial effect on the welfare of Finnish citizens.
      Only 12 per cent of those candidates who gave their answers to questions presented in the Vaalikone, the candidate selection engine on the Helsingin Sanomat website, said that they absolutely disagree with the claim.
     
Of the leaders of the political parties, Jyrki Katainen (National Coalition) has the strongest belief in the benefits of globalisation and free trade, on the basis of his comments to the Vaalikone.
      Matti Vanhanen (Centre) and Stefan Wallin (Swedish People's Party) also "agree absolutely", even though Vanhanen has not sent his comments to the candidate selection engine at all.
      Other chairmen including Timo Soini (True Finns) also more or less agree on the benefits of globalisation.
     
A total of 1,491 candidates or three out of four of those standing for election gave their answers to the newly-opened candidate selection engine on the Helsingin Sanomat website. Most of the 27 questions in the Vaalikone include issues of economy, employment, taxation and people's subsistence, while also opinions on for example energy, climate change, and security are asked.
      The questions in the Vaalikone had been compiled so that the candidates had to answer all of them, with no such alternative as "I do not know".
      Especially Question No. 27, asking which parties would form the future government, proved to be difficult for the politicians. For example, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was not willing to answer this question at all. Hence he is not involved in the Vaalikone.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  HS Gallup: Finns´ eagerness to vote seems to be increasing (16.2.2007)
  COMMENT: Candidate PCs running hot (30.1.2007)
  Electioneering has already spread to YouTube (30.1.2007)
  Few HS readers interested in candidates´ views of foreign policy (4.1.2007)

Links:
  Ministry of Justice: Parliamentary Elections 2007

Helsingin Sanomat