Tarja Halonen slightly ahead of Sauli Niinistö in Presidential race

Candidates clash over decisions during time in government

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As Sunday’s second round of Finland’s Presidential elections approaches, the two remaining candidates, Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö, squared off on Tuesday in a debate organised by Helsingin Sanomat and the news department of the commercial television network Nelonen.
      The televised debate took place as a fresh poll gave a slight lead to incumbent Halonen.
      Meanwhile, advance voting in the election concluded on Tuesday, with a slightly higher turnout than on the previous days.
     
In the poll, whose results were read out during the debate, respondents were asked which of the two candidates would work harder for the good of all of Finland and all Finns. The survey gave Halonen 53 percent, against 47 percent for Niinistö. The three percentage point margin of error means that the two could be in a dead heat.
      The results of the poll, commissioned by Nelonen, indicated a gender divide among the electorate, with 60 percent of women favouring Halonen, and 53 percent of men supporting Niinistö.
     
Much of the debate focused on the budget policy of the government that was in power before the current Presidential term, when Niinistö and Halonen were both ministers - Niinistö as the Minister of Finance, representing the National Coalition Party, and Halonen as the Minister for Foreign Affairs under the mandate of the Social Democrats.
      Niinistö warned Halonen not to "hide behind the Foreign Minister’s chair" concerning common decisions made by the government.
      Halonen did not directly comment on Niinistö’s performance as Finance Minister, but she did note that Niinistö had spoken about "climbing trees". At one point, when there was talk of a shortage of funding for sports and playground equipment, he had urged children to climb trees as an alternative.
      Niinistö criticised Halonen for what he saw as excessively expensive construction projects at Finnish embassies during Halonen’s period as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
     
During the debate at Helsinki’s Sanoma House, the two candidates were asked to hold one-minute speeches to voters in the rural village of Posio, where 83 percent of voters cast ballots for the Centre Party candidate, Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen in the first round.
      Halonen reiterated her desire to be the President of all of the people. She also spoke about the possibilities of Finnish export industries in Posio as well.
      Niinistö emphasised the importance of everyday responsibility as a part of the Finnish identity, and spoke of the possibilities of Finnish entrepreneurship in Posio as well.
      Neither of the two finalists made any special effort to woo Centre Party voters.
      Speaking on behalf of the people of Posio, village shopkeeper Sulo Airisniemi put forward the view that it does not matter who is President, as the advisers are the same.
     
Journalists tried to get Halonen to say if she would favour a ban on fur farming. Halonen would only observe that fur farming is a legal livelihood, and added that consumers’ buying habits would determine the future of the business, as is the case with all businesses.
      Niinistö would not endorse any employment policy model that would have an impact on job security, for instance.
     
Neither candidate would agree to a request by the moderators of the debate to put various potential threats facing Finland into some kind of ranking order.
      Halonen said that a good leader prepares for all scenarios, and Niinistö agreed.
      Finally, Halonen raised the threat of a global pandemic to the status of the world’s greatest threat. Niinistö chose problems relating to climate change as the first priority.
      Neither of the two were willing to protect the environment by banning the use of private cars.
      Niinistö said that if he wins, he expects that Halonen will be able to work on behalf of Finland in international tasks. Halonen saw a similar future for Niinistö. "They’re already waiting in Luxembourg", she said.
     
The candidates will have another televised debate on MTV3 on Wednesday, and on YLE TV1 on Thursday.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Halonen and Niinistö: NATO decision up to the people (24.1.2006)
  Majority of first-round voters lost no time in choosing their candidates (23.1.2006)

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