Halonen and Niinistö ready for second round of Presidential election

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There was no lack of tension on Sunday evening at the Big Workshop - the main building of the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE, when the results of the first round of the Presidential elections came in.
      Only one thing was missing: exuberant celebration.
      Not even the National Coalition Party candidate Sauli Niinistö shouted out when his spot in the second round was secured.
      President Tarja Halonen, the candidate of the Social Democratic Party and the Left Alliance, would not be drawn to express disappointment at not being elected directly in the first round.
      Centre Party candidate, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen admitted soon after the YLE projection was announced that the result was a disappointment.
     
Halonen repeated several times during the evening that it would not be right to complain about the result, even though it fell five percentage points below the most recent opinion surveys.
      "This is a good place from which to push forward", she said, commenting on her position in advance of the second round.
      Halonen calculated that her result in the first round was greater than the combined votes of Niinistö and Vanhanen.
      She attributed her unexpectedly poor result to the low voter turnout, and to her view that "the media campaigned on behalf of two rounds". The turnout this year was 73.9 percent, down from 76.9 percent in the first round in the previous election six years ago.
      Social Democratic Party Chairman Eero Heinäluoma said that Halonen’s campaign for the second round would begin immediately after a planning meeting on Monday morning. Left Alliance leader Suvi-Anne Siimes promised that the leaders and the rank-and-file of her party would be busy "on the streets and in the shopping centres".
     
Pleased with his result, Sauli Niinistö said that in the second round it would be possible to "speedily get into the core of foreign and security policy".
      He also wants to talk about the welfare state and the significance of work in Finland.
      "Now we will see if Finland is to be kept in a state of stagnation, or if we are to move forward. Now we are resting on our laurels, somewhat like in Germany, assuming all the time that the same old foundations will hold."
      Niinistö also said that he expects the centre-right parties to cooperate in the second round, just as they had agreed to do.
      Under the plan, Niinistö’s National Coalition Party will send out invitations already on Monday for a meeting of its own large district organisations, and those of the Centre Party.
     
It was difficult for Matti Vanhanen to hide his deep disappointment. However, he quickly regained his composure to comment on the result.
      "Naturally I am disappointed". He added that he believes that he lost many Centre Party voters to President Halonen.
      He also said that he was ready to support Niinistö according to the plan agreed earlier.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  SUNDAY 21:55 - PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö to face off in second round (15.1.2006)
  Presidential candidates discuss NATO, work, and language issues (13.1.2006)

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