President Halonen concerned about mud-slinging in run-up to Presidential Election

Tarja Halonen

print this

President Tarja Halonen voiced her concern on Wednesday over the Presidential Election campaigning, which seems to have started off with some considerable mud-slinging. Halonen expressed the hope that public rummaging through the candidates' personal lives would not become a common practice.
      The President feels the campaigning should concentrate on matter-of-fact issues, such as the candidates' views on foreign policy and security questions.
      The public vilifying of the candidates for the Presidential Election in January 2006 from the very beginning of the campaign season has caused Halonen to think back to how she was treated by the press before the previous election five years ago.
     
"The debate did have interesting twists and turns… about people's characteristics, my past, my family, my way of life, even my religious views, regardless of what I had said", Halonen reminisced during the Foreign Correspondents' Society's lunch meeting in Helsinki on Friday.
      The recent stir around Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen's divorce speaks of the shift in emphasis towards the candidates' person, Halonen pointed out. She also wished the Prime Minister and those close to him "strength for the duration of the public brouhaha."
      "I understand the old saying 'what does not kill you makes you stronger' offers little comfort amid all this", Halonen said with some sympathy.
      The President also emphasised that she will back up the government and the Prime Minister "one hundred percent" during the rumpus.
     
President Halonen still has not revealed whether she will run for a second term in the office, despite the fact that she has already made her decision. "A definite answer will follow in due time."
      Halonen confessed she has started enjoying her duties as the President of the Republic, but warned against drawing any conclusions from this.
     
The criticism presented in Russia against her interpretation of wartime history has apparently left a deep scar in Halonen's soul. In her speech in Paris, Halonen treated the so-called Continuation War of 1941-44 as a separate conflict from the rest of the World War.
      In Halonen's view, the received criticism speaks above all of the difficulty of dealing with history. Halonen defended her stance, saying it was supported by the Finns' collective memory and the prevailing perception of history.
      "The President does not rewrite history", Halonen stated. She also warned against interpreting history so eagerly that it starts to harm today's cooperation.
     
Halonen does not feel Finland should adopt the role of a "big brother" to the Baltic States within the EU or when dealing with Russia – a notion that was put forward by the spokesman of the Upper House of the Russian Duma during his recent visit to Finland.
      "Big brothers and sisters are necessary, but not liked", Halonen remarked. In her view it is in everyone's best interests that Russia and the Baltic States solve their possible disputes amongst themselves.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Piqued PM keen to explain press rumours surrounding his divorce (15.4.2005)
  Russia takes issue with President Halonen´s views on war (7.3.2005)

Links:
  The Continuation War

Helsingin Sanomat