Niinistö goes on offensive in televised Presidential debate

Most candidates want to maintain existing authority of President

print this

National Coalition Party Presidential candidate Sauli Niinistö took the initiative in Wednesday evening’s televised Presidential debate, putting both incumbent Tarja Halonen and Centre Party candidate, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen on the defensive.
     The debate, televised by the public service broadcaster YLE, was the first joint appearance of all eight candidates running in the January election.
     Niinistö put Prime Minister Vanhanen on the spot for the government’s recent decision to initiate a constitutional amendment after its proposal for a new law on participation in crisis management operations did not win the approval of the Parliament’s Constitutional Law Committee.
     Niinistö called the actions of Vanhanen’s government an "unusual drama", and pointed out that never before has a constitutional amendment been embarked upon in the "frenzy of the moment". He also sees the government’s questioning of the interpretation of the committee as "unheard of".
     In Niinistö’s view, even a temporary emergency law would have been preferable to a hasty constitutional amendment.
     
Joining Niinistö’s attacks were the Green League candidate, MP Heidi Hautala, and Bjarne Kallis of the Christian Democrats.
     According to Hautala, the crisis management bill was made part of a "power game". Kallis said that power had gone to Vanhanen’s head.
     During the televised debate, Vanhanen was forced to extensively justify the actions of his government. He said that the government decided to initiate a constitutional amendment because the interpretation made by the Constitutional Law Committee would have dropped the President out of decision-making on crisis management operations.
     The government wanted to maintain the present practice, under which Parliament, the government, and the President all have the right to veto a decision to take part in such operations.
     President Halonen stayed in the background of the debate, although she did give Prime Minister Vanhanen some "sisterly support".
     
In spite of the sparks that flew around the studio, the final result of the debate was that all candidates, except Heidi Hautala, wanted the President to continue to have a say in Finnish participation in military operations.
     Niinistö attacked Halonen for putting global issues ahead of promoting Finnish economic interests. Halonen defended herself by pointing to her activities in the Globalisation Commission of the International Labour Organisation. She also said that Finland would be no worse off in a world where justice prevails.
     
A "morality test" showed a clear split among the candidates. In the test, the candidates were asked which they felt was morally most suspect - pulling the hair of a child (all corporal punishment of children is illegal in Finland), marital infidelity, or driving above the speed limit.
     Vanhanen and Niinistö chose hair-pulling as the most reprehensible, Kallis chose infidelity, while Halonen, Hautala, the True Finns’ Timo Soini, and the independent candidate Arto Lahti felt that speeding was the worst of the sins. Henrik Lax of the Swedish People’s Party chose both hair-pulling and speeding.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  President Halonen: Finnish Defence Forces need only one commander-in-chief

Helsingin Sanomat