Niinistö holds big lead in Suomen Kuvalehti poll on next President
Sauli Niinistö
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Jorma Ollila
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Olli Rehn
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Erkki Tuomioja
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The Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö (National Coalition Party) was the overwhelming favourite when Taloustutkimus carried out a poll for the weekly magazine Suomen Kuvalehti on the suitablility of a selection of individuals for the position of President of the Republic.
The former Minister of Finance and chair of the National Coalition Party, who was beaten in a run-off by incumbent Tarja Halonen in 2006, was seen by 35% of respondents as being excellently suited to the task of Finland’s head of state.
Five per cent felt that he was quite unsuitable for the role.
Tarja Halonen cannot stand for a third term, after being elected in 2000 and 2006.
The poll scored possible candidates - drawn from a list of 15 men and four women - on a scale from 1 to 4, with the top mark representing ""extremely well suited to the task", and the lowest mark being "quite unsuitable".
Niinistö collected an overall grade-point rating of 3.15, putting him well clear of the field.
The next-highest approval ratings for the position, vacant from 2012, went to Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre Party) with 13% saying he was extremely well suited to the job, and the Nokia Chairman and former CEO Jorma Ollila (9%).
EU Commissioner Olli Rehn (Centre Party) slipped past Ollila into third spot when the lesser “positive” rankings were taken into account.
The former Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja (Social Democratic Party) enjoyed 8% support in the highest category, but like the three men above him, he fell well short of Niinistö's overall numbers.
One previous candidate for the job, the Centre Party's Paavo Väyrynen, currently the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, was in the unenviable position of scoring the highest number of "highly unsuitable" votes, at 33%.
He was followed by Björn Wahlroos, the CEO of the Sampo Group, who had slightly fewer opponents, but equally only 2% felt he was excellently suited to the post.
The study was carried out in February and March.
Around 1,000 respondents took part, and the margin of error was 3.2% in each direction.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 7.4.2008 - TODAY |
 Niinistö holds big lead in Suomen Kuvalehti poll on next President |
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