Slight decline in Halonen’s popularity; first drop during four years in office

Finns support President’s work on behalf of poor countries

Tarja Halonen

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A fresh opinion poll indicates a slight drop in the popularity of President Tarja Halonen. It is the first time during her four years in office that her numbers have declined.
      The poll, commissioned by Helsingin Sanomat, indicates that the number of people saying that they are "very satisfied" with her performance has gone down to 37%, from 57% in December.
      However, 93% said that they were either "very satisfied", or just "satisfied" with the President - just one percentage point less than six months ago.
      Until now, President Halonen’s popularity has grown steadily ever since she took office after being narrowly elected in January 2000. The latest figures put the President’s approval rating at about the same level that it was a year and a half ago.
     
The poll was taken last week, and the last of the approximately 1,000 interviews were conducted on Thursday.
      The biggest shift is from the "very satisfied" to the "satisfied" camp.
     
The breakdown among political parties indicates that supporters of the Green League are the most pleased with Halonen’s performance: 59% of Green respondents said that they were very satisfied with her performance.
      About half of supporters of the Social Democratic Party were very satisfied with Halonen, as were 52% of supporters of the Left Alliance.
      Women tended to be more favourable toward the President than men.
      Regional differences were not great. The Helsinki region and Uusimaa had a higher proportion of respondents who were very satisfied with Halonen than Finns living in other parts of the country.
     
The fresh survey is the first to come out since President Halonen came under severe criticism by Risto E.J. Penttilä, director of the Finnish Business and Policy Forum EVA.
      In an article on the Sunday Debate page of Helsingin Sanomat in late April, Penttilä argued that Halonen’s activism in do-gooder causes erodes Finland’s standing in key countries.
      Nevertheless, the poll indicates widespread public support for the President’s international activities. When asked what they thought of the President’s actions for world peace and the poor countries, 82% of respondents were in favour of it.
      It appears, therefore, that most Finns do not feel that the President’s focus on globalisation issues is hurting the country’s relations with the United States or Russia. Only seven percent of respondents felt that the President’s actions were wrong.
      More than half of respondents rejected the idea that the President should focus more on relations with the great powers, rather than supporting the Third World. Less than one in four felt that a change in course would be beneficial.
      A vast majority - 87% - felt that the President’s ability to respond to the needs and expectations of citizens was at least "fairly good". There was no change from December’s figures in this respect.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Professor and Minister disagree with criticism of President Halonen (28.4.2004)
  Halonen responds to criticism: Supporting the poor is in Finland’s interest (27.4.2004)
  Halonen criticised as global do-gooder; PM Vanhanen comes to President’s defence (26.4.2004)
  Poll: Halonen popularity rises again (22.12.2003)
  The Democratic Republic of Tarja (31.8.2003)

Helsingin Sanomat