The Presidential candidates of the largest parties will kick off their election campaigns with cruises to be held immediately after their nominations.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen’s (Centre) candidacy is set to be confirmed on October 29th, and Sauli Niinistö’s (Nat. Coalition) will be formalised on November 12th in connection with their parties’ respective extraordinary party congresses. Vanhanen’s candidacy cruise will also mark his 50th birthday.
President Tarja Halonen’s candidacy is to be confirmed by the Social Democratic Party Council on November 19th.
There are still some cabins left on Halonen’s cruise. Tickets for the cruises of the candidates of the two other large parties have already been sold out.
The smaller parties named their candidates already in the spring and early summer.
The first round of the elections will be held on January the 15th. If no candidate wins an outright majority, a runoff between the two highest-scoring candidates will be held on January the 29th.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 2.9.2005
