SUNDAY 21:45 UPDATE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION: TARJA HALONEN WINS SECOND TERM
Challenger Niinistö's rally on election day insufficient to overhaul incumbent's advantage; voter turnout 77.1%
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Tarja Halonen (the SDP and Left Alliance candidate) has been re-elected for a second six-year term as Finland's President of the Republic. With all the votes counted, Halonen had an advantage of rather more than 110,000 votes over the challenger Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party.
Niinistö performed better on the day than during advance voting, and the two candidates were practically level in Sunday's voting, but Niinistö's late rally was insufficient to close the gap on Halonen. She secured 51.8% of the total votes cast in the runoff, against 48.2% for Niinistö. Voter turnout was 77.1%, a drop of around 3%-points on the figure for the second round in 2000.
The advance voting in the election gave Halonen 53.9% of the votes, compared with 46.1% for Niinistö. Many of those who chose to vote on election day said they were still unsure of their choice, but early analyses suggest that the result pivoted on the fact that Niinistö did not secure enough of the Centre Party votes up for grabs after the dismissal in the first round of Prime Minister and Centre Party Chairman Matti Vanhanen.
Voters in the strong Centre Party areas were considerably more passive about going to the polls than in other parts of the country.
Both candidates had gone to great lengths to persuade the public of their "rural" credentials, and the Centre Party leadership had thrown their support behind Niinistö.
It has also been suggested that Sauli Niinistö's more obvious pro-NATO stance on the foreign policy front may have hampered his chances of overhauling Halonen.
We shall return tomorrow with details and analysis of the election result, and possibly of the ramifications for the 2007 Parliamentary Elections.
The moderate conservative National Coalition Party, now in opposition, can, for example, take heart from the good showing of their candidate, while the position of the Centre Party - currently the largest grouping in Parliament - will naturally be a topic of discussion among the political pundits.
As such, the election of a new President will have no immediate consequences for the SDP-Centre Party-Swedish People's Party governing coalition.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen, 62, will be sworn in on March 1st.
Votes cast (100.0% counted):
Tarja Halonen 51.8% (1,630,833 votes)
Sauli Niinistö 48.2% (1,517,947 votes)
The voter turnout figure of 77.1% includes only those voters in Finland. When the votes of Finnish citizens abroad are included, the figure falls to 74.0%.
Voter turnout (in Finland) rose from 73.9% in the first round.
In 2000, the figures for the first and second rounds (voters in Finland only) were 76.9% and 80.2% respectively.
Niinistö performed better on the day than during advance voting, and the two candidates were practically level in Sunday's voting, but Niinistö's late rally was insufficient to close the gap on Halonen. She secured 51.8% of the total votes cast in the runoff, against 48.2% for Niinistö. Voter turnout was 77.1%, a drop of around 3%-points on the figure for the second round in 2000.
The advance voting in the election gave Halonen 53.9% of the votes, compared with 46.1% for Niinistö. Many of those who chose to vote on election day said they were still unsure of their choice, but early analyses suggest that the result pivoted on the fact that Niinistö did not secure enough of the Centre Party votes up for grabs after the dismissal in the first round of Prime Minister and Centre Party Chairman Matti Vanhanen.
Voters in the strong Centre Party areas were considerably more passive about going to the polls than in other parts of the country.
Both candidates had gone to great lengths to persuade the public of their "rural" credentials, and the Centre Party leadership had thrown their support behind Niinistö.
It has also been suggested that Sauli Niinistö's more obvious pro-NATO stance on the foreign policy front may have hampered his chances of overhauling Halonen.
We shall return tomorrow with details and analysis of the election result, and possibly of the ramifications for the 2007 Parliamentary Elections.
The moderate conservative National Coalition Party, now in opposition, can, for example, take heart from the good showing of their candidate, while the position of the Centre Party - currently the largest grouping in Parliament - will naturally be a topic of discussion among the political pundits.
As such, the election of a new President will have no immediate consequences for the SDP-Centre Party-Swedish People's Party governing coalition.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen, 62, will be sworn in on March 1st.
Votes cast (100.0% counted):
Tarja Halonen 51.8% (1,630,833 votes)
Sauli Niinistö 48.2% (1,517,947 votes)
The voter turnout figure of 77.1% includes only those voters in Finland. When the votes of Finnish citizens abroad are included, the figure falls to 74.0%.
Voter turnout (in Finland) rose from 73.9% in the first round.
In 2000, the figures for the first and second rounds (voters in Finland only) were 76.9% and 80.2% respectively.
Helsingin Sanomat