The presidential race in Finland became more interesting when polls released during election week suggested that the national-conservative Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho could pull off a surprise finish and fight his way to the second round of the elections.
Finns were choosing who would succeed President Sauli Niinistö, who has served the maximum of 12 years. Six years ago, President Niinistö (who represents the moderate right-wing National Coalition Party) won his re-election in the first round by a landslide, but now the field was open.
The fight was long thought to be a duel between National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb and Green Party candidate Pekka Haavisto. But, in the final week of the election campaign, the national-conservative Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho had seen his support increase poll after poll, with the latest one suggesting that there were no longer two, but rather three, top candidates.
The final week of the elections saw talk of ‘tactical voting,’ and one might have even seen the media encouraging voters to consider if their candidate had a chance to reach the second round. On January 28th, the results of the first round were: Stubb 27%, Haavisto 26%, Halla-aho 19%, and Center Party candidate Olli Rehn 15%. Because many Social Democratic voters used their ‘tactical vote’ to abandon their own candidate and vote for Haavisto, the much smaller Leftist Alliance made history when its candidate, Li Andersson (4.9%), managed to beat the Social Democratic Party’s Jutta Urpilainen (4.3%) in the rivalry between the main leftist parties. The Christian Democrats’ Sari Essayah, Independent Mika Aaltola, and Movement Now’s Harry Harkimo all received less than 2% of the votes.
Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho is one of the most controversial figures in Finnish politics. He was labeled an extremist when he entered politics nearly twenty years ago, and he has become the symbol of a critical attitude towards open borders and mass immigration. But the passing years have proven Halla-aho right in spotting the problems with immigration, and the time he has served in national and European parliaments, and as the leader of the Finns Party, has established him as a political figure whose esprit is cheered by his supporters and respected by his political opponents.
When the ruling right-wing coalition was formed last year, Halla-aho passed up a cabinet post to become the speaker of the Finnish parliament—in the official hierarchy, the post is second to the president. Although not in the spotlight of day-to-day politics, Halla-aho has now had the chance to represent Finland at many high-profile national and international events. For example, Halla-aho—originally a scholar of languages—received a standing ovation and a lot of good will when he recently delivered a speech in Ukrainian to the Ukrainian parliament.
In Finland, the president exerts authority only on matters concerning foreign policy. Because the Finnish people and all of the candidates agreed on supporting Ukraine and being firm with Russia, it was not easy to find differences on these matters. In practice, the Finnish president expresses moral leadership while occasionally participating in public discussions. Differences between the candidates are more telling on issues other than foreign policy.
For example, Halla-aho was the only major candidate who, it seems, had not slept through biology class and could therefore assert in election debates that the human species has two sexes. When asked if multiculturalism was a good thing for Finland, only Halla-aho answered in the negative. With these key points of difference from other candidates, it was not surprising that Halla-aho scored 19%, which was the best presidential election result of the Finns Party ever.
The two candidates in front of Halla-aho are both liberal-globalist politicians with long histories in politics. National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb has served as Finnish prime minister, as a party leader, as an MEP, and has held several cabinet posts. Stubb is currently director and professor at the European University in Florence and is probably the most globalist of the candidates.
Pekka Haavisto is also a repeat cabinet minister; he has served as the leader of the Green Party and has twice been a presidential candidate. Although Haavisto’s party is not one of the largest, he has managed to rally the liberal red-green voting bloc in support, while, for example, the Social Democrats experienced disappointing outcomes in the last presidential election.
To be elected president, a candidate needs to win the majority of votes. In the first round of the election, the liberal-globalist candidates made efforts, pretending to be something that they are not, in order to get votes from conservative and national-oriented voters.
When Stubb began his political career, he openly boasted about being a federalist and expressed his regret that nation-states still had such a big role in politics. Now, he is using slogans like, “To me, Finland means all.” It is also hard to recognize Pekka Haavisto, who rants for border security in election discussions, as the same man who a few years ago was stretching the law to repatriate Finnish-related women from ISIS in Syria—not to be prosecuted for terrorism, as in some other countries, but rather to enjoy Finnish public services and social programs.
The second round of the elections has been a furtherance of this masquerade where two liberals are pretending to act like conservatives. For Finns Party voters, it will be a difficult, if not impossible, task to differentiate between these two candidates; consequently, one can assume that abstentions will rise when the second round of voting takes place on February 11th.
National Conservatism and the Finnish Presidential Elections
The presidential race in Finland became more interesting when polls released during election week suggested that the national-conservative Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho could pull off a surprise finish and fight his way to the second round of the elections.
Finns were choosing who would succeed President Sauli Niinistö, who has served the maximum of 12 years. Six years ago, President Niinistö (who represents the moderate right-wing National Coalition Party) won his re-election in the first round by a landslide, but now the field was open.
The fight was long thought to be a duel between National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb and Green Party candidate Pekka Haavisto. But, in the final week of the election campaign, the national-conservative Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho had seen his support increase poll after poll, with the latest one suggesting that there were no longer two, but rather three, top candidates.
The final week of the elections saw talk of ‘tactical voting,’ and one might have even seen the media encouraging voters to consider if their candidate had a chance to reach the second round. On January 28th, the results of the first round were: Stubb 27%, Haavisto 26%, Halla-aho 19%, and Center Party candidate Olli Rehn 15%. Because many Social Democratic voters used their ‘tactical vote’ to abandon their own candidate and vote for Haavisto, the much smaller Leftist Alliance made history when its candidate, Li Andersson (4.9%), managed to beat the Social Democratic Party’s Jutta Urpilainen (4.3%) in the rivalry between the main leftist parties. The Christian Democrats’ Sari Essayah, Independent Mika Aaltola, and Movement Now’s Harry Harkimo all received less than 2% of the votes.
Finns Party candidate Jussi Halla-aho is one of the most controversial figures in Finnish politics. He was labeled an extremist when he entered politics nearly twenty years ago, and he has become the symbol of a critical attitude towards open borders and mass immigration. But the passing years have proven Halla-aho right in spotting the problems with immigration, and the time he has served in national and European parliaments, and as the leader of the Finns Party, has established him as a political figure whose esprit is cheered by his supporters and respected by his political opponents.
When the ruling right-wing coalition was formed last year, Halla-aho passed up a cabinet post to become the speaker of the Finnish parliament—in the official hierarchy, the post is second to the president. Although not in the spotlight of day-to-day politics, Halla-aho has now had the chance to represent Finland at many high-profile national and international events. For example, Halla-aho—originally a scholar of languages—received a standing ovation and a lot of good will when he recently delivered a speech in Ukrainian to the Ukrainian parliament.
In Finland, the president exerts authority only on matters concerning foreign policy. Because the Finnish people and all of the candidates agreed on supporting Ukraine and being firm with Russia, it was not easy to find differences on these matters. In practice, the Finnish president expresses moral leadership while occasionally participating in public discussions. Differences between the candidates are more telling on issues other than foreign policy.
For example, Halla-aho was the only major candidate who, it seems, had not slept through biology class and could therefore assert in election debates that the human species has two sexes. When asked if multiculturalism was a good thing for Finland, only Halla-aho answered in the negative. With these key points of difference from other candidates, it was not surprising that Halla-aho scored 19%, which was the best presidential election result of the Finns Party ever.
The two candidates in front of Halla-aho are both liberal-globalist politicians with long histories in politics. National Coalition Party candidate Alexander Stubb has served as Finnish prime minister, as a party leader, as an MEP, and has held several cabinet posts. Stubb is currently director and professor at the European University in Florence and is probably the most globalist of the candidates.
Pekka Haavisto is also a repeat cabinet minister; he has served as the leader of the Green Party and has twice been a presidential candidate. Although Haavisto’s party is not one of the largest, he has managed to rally the liberal red-green voting bloc in support, while, for example, the Social Democrats experienced disappointing outcomes in the last presidential election.
To be elected president, a candidate needs to win the majority of votes. In the first round of the election, the liberal-globalist candidates made efforts, pretending to be something that they are not, in order to get votes from conservative and national-oriented voters.
When Stubb began his political career, he openly boasted about being a federalist and expressed his regret that nation-states still had such a big role in politics. Now, he is using slogans like, “To me, Finland means all.” It is also hard to recognize Pekka Haavisto, who rants for border security in election discussions, as the same man who a few years ago was stretching the law to repatriate Finnish-related women from ISIS in Syria—not to be prosecuted for terrorism, as in some other countries, but rather to enjoy Finnish public services and social programs.
The second round of the elections has been a furtherance of this masquerade where two liberals are pretending to act like conservatives. For Finns Party voters, it will be a difficult, if not impossible, task to differentiate between these two candidates; consequently, one can assume that abstentions will rise when the second round of voting takes place on February 11th.
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