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Tarja Halonen: Elections
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Finland's hugely popular President Tarja Halonen, the country's first female head of state, is widely expected to clinch a second six-year term in an election Sunday that is more about character than issues. The down-to-earth Halonen, a former Social Democrat, appeals across party lines in this small Nordic nation on the periphery of Europe, which prides itself on tenacity, independence and inventiveness. In many ways Halonen, 62, who grew up in a working class district of Helsinki, epitomizes Finland's history of struggle, from rule by Czarist Russia and invasion by Josef Stalin's Red Army to a working welfare state with a much-praised educational system and a place at the forefront of wireless communications with mobile phone giant Nokia.
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It was without any real surprise but after a rather difficult and closer run campaign than originally forecast by the polls that Tarja Halonen (Social Democrat Party, SDP) won the second round of the presidential election. The outgoing President won 51.8% of the vote versus 48.2% for her rival Sauli Niinistö, the National Coalition Party (KOK) candidate. This result was almost the same as the one achieved in the second round of the previous presidential election on 6th February 2000 when Tarja Halonen won with 51.61% of the vote versus 48.37% for her rival Esko Aho (Centre Party, KESK).
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Tarja Halonen was elected Finland’s first female head of state in 2000, and re-elected in 2006. With a Master of Laws degree she made a professional career as trade union lawyer. She joined the Social Democratic Party in 1971 and was elected to the Parliament in 1979. She held her parliamentary seat in five consecutive elections and served in three cabinets as Minister of Social Affairs and Health, of Justice, and for Foreign Affairs.
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As expected Tarja Halonen was strong in the cities and towns. In Helsinki she got 66.3 percent of the votes. Halonen ... won the first ballot on January 6 prior to the final two-way race on February 6. Speaker of the House Riitta Uosukainen, representing the Conservatives, managed to get together only 12.8 percent of the votes while the election was a huge disappointment for Elisabeth Rehn, who lost against Martti Ahtisaari six years ago, and this year got only 7.9 percent of the votes.
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At the level of the whole country Tarja Halonen received 5.5 percentage points more votes than in the first round of the election. The differences between urban, semi-urban and rural municipalities were relatively small. Compared with the first round, Halonen received, on average, 5.3 percentage points more votes in urban and semi-urban municipalities and slightly more, that is, 6.1 percentage points, in rural municipalities. The result was similar regardless of the constituency or the political background of the area in question.
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Tarja Halonen will continue as President of the Republic until 2012 but the presidential election was a close-run race. The success of the National Coalition Party brings a new dynamism to domestic politics, writes Kyösti Karvonen, Managing Editor of the newspaper Kaleva.
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