Finland’s former foreign minister and Green League (VIHR) candidate Pekka Haavisto (left) and National Union presidential candidate Alexander Stubbe at the Helsinki City Hall, Finland, during the first round of presidential election voting. Shaking hands during the election night debate, January 28, 2024. [Photo/Agencies]
HELSINKI – National Union presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Alexander Stubbe will face independent Green Party candidate and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in the second round of the Finnish presidential election on February 11. .
According to a preliminary count of all votes released by the Justice Ministry on Sunday night, Mr. Stubbe received 27.2% of support, followed by Mr. Harvist with 25.8%. Jussi Halaaho, the Finnish Party candidate and speaker of the Finnish parliament, received 19 percent support.
Since no candidate received more than half the votes on Sunday, the second round will be between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round: Mr. Stubb and Mr. Haavisto. It turns out.
Turnout in Sunday’s first round reached 74.9%, higher than the 69.9% in the 2018 presidential election. Presidential elections are held in Finland every six years.
Mr. Stubb and Mr. Harvist refrained from making any final campaign policy statements Sunday night.
As for campaigning with Haavisto in the second round, Stubb said there would be a civilized discussion that would challenge foreign and security policy issues, no matter who the opponent is.
Haavisto said the first round of voting had a very good result and acknowledged his disagreement with Stubbe, but declined to specify. He stressed that he shares similar views on key security policy issues.
Supporters of the other seven presidential candidates will now have to choose between Mr. Stubb and Mr. Hervist, but according to a poll before the first round, Mr. Stubb won 59% of the votes in the second round. It shows that Mr. Hervist has a 41% chance of winning.
Some analysts said a large-scale strike against the current Finnish government’s austerity measures, scheduled for Thursday and Friday this week, could also affect the outcome.
Domestic politics and industrial relations are outside the purview of the president in Finland, but the unanimity on security and foreign policy brought these issues to the forefront.
The second round of early voting begins Wednesday, January 31st and ends on February 6th.