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Finland elects a new head of state. Two conservative and one green top politicians are ahead in the polls.
A good five million Finns will be called on Sunday to elect a new head of state. The new president replaces the previous incumbent Sauli Niinistö, who is no longer allowed to run after twelve years in office.
The new head of state will lead a country whose geopolitical environment has changed fundamentally in the recent past. With a border with Russia that is over 1,300 kilometers long, national security is currently at the top of the population’s worry barometer.
Increased rightward trend expected
The political shift to the right that began in the parliamentary elections a year ago is likely to intensify in the presidential elections.
One of the favorites is the former conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb. If the 55-year-old is elected, he would be Finland’s first Swedish-speaking head of state since the Second World War, when General Carl Gustaf Mannerheim briefly took on this role.
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One of the favorites for the presidency is former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb from the National Coalition Party. As the son of a Finnish-speaking mother and the Finnish-Swedish ice hockey official Göran Stubb, he grew up bilingual.
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For the internationally oriented Stubb, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which was formed in Helsinki almost 75 years ago, is an important foundation for a more peaceful Europe, as he emphasized in the final debate on public television Yle.
Stubb emphasized that he was convinced that the spirit of Helsinki could work again and that the world order would be significantly more peaceful in ten years than it is today. According to the latest polls, he can expect a good quarter of the votes.
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Former Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto from the Green League also wants to be at the top.
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Hot on Stubb’s heels is former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, who ran in the last two presidential elections and clearly lost to Sauli Niinistö. 30 years ago he was the first Green member of the government in Europe.
For 65-year-old Haavisto, it is not the OSCE that plays a crucial role in resolving the war situation in Europe, but NATO and neutral third countries: “Because Russia is boycotting the OSCE, it can do little. Now, in addition to NATO’s security guarantees, we also need countries with which Russia is willing to negotiate.”
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The current speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho from the national-conservative “Party of the Finns,” also thinks he has good chances.
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The current speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, also wants to take the highest state office. He is a member of the national conservative “Party of the Finns”, which is part of the government coalition elected last year.
The 52-year-old Halla-aho is considered anti-Islam and anti-immigrant and has already been convicted of defamation several times. Nevertheless, it is met with great approval, especially among the younger male population. Finland now has to look after itself, he emphasized in the television debate: “It is within our power to stand up for a Finnish Finland in this uncertain world.”
Runoff election very likely
The chances that the new Finnish head of state will be chosen as early as Sunday evening are slim. Because in the field of nine candidates from all political camps, no one will reach the magical 50 percent mark.
Interest is therefore focused on which two people will make it into the runoff election on February 11, 2024. A mandate for the new head of state will be: no longer talk primarily to the rulers in the Kremlin as before, but rather stand up to Moscow as a new NATO member.