Halonen’s comments on second term catch her office off guard
President says during visit to Åland that she has decided on whether to run again
Tarja Halonen
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The Office of the President of the Republic of Finland was surprised by Monday’s announcement by President Tarja Halonen that she had already made a decision on whether or not to run in the next Presidential elections in 2006.
"I have my own position, and I know what I plan to say, but I do not want to say it before the decision-making processes [of the political parties]", President Halonen said. She was speaking at a press conference in the semi-autonomous Åland Islands, where she was presiding over the opening of the Landsting, or provincial parliament.
The comment came as a complete surprise to Maria Romantschuk, the President’s head of press relations.
"I was not aware that she had made up her mind", Romantschuk said.
Romantschuk also did not want to offer any interpretations on the statement, or to say if it was, in fact, a partial promise to run for a second term.
President Halonen was elected in 2000 as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party.
The SDP’s Presidential candidate is chosen by the party’s delegate council, which holds its next meeting on March 9. At that meeting the council is to set a timetable for the process leading up to the nomination of a candidate.
The delegate council can also decide to leave the candidacy question up to the party congress, which is scheduled for June. This means that a possible vote among the party membership can be held during the spring before the party congress.
The SDP chairman, Parliamentary Speaker Paavo Lipponen, has said that he will not run for President even if Halonen does not seek a second term.
Centre Party leader, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, said in September that his party would nominate a Presidential candidate at its party congress in October next year. He has not directly indicated whether or not he will run for President.
National Coalition Party MEP Alexander Stubb proposed in September that the party name General Gustav Hägglund as its candidate. Some in the party would also like to see former chairman Sauli Niinistö, one of the directors of the European Investment Bank, as their candidate for the Finnish Presidency.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 3.11.2004 - TODAY |
 Halonen’s comments on second term catch her office off guard |
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