A man looks at a voting poster for the Finnish presidential election on January 16, 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. Early voting for Finland’s presidential election began on Wednesday, more than a week before voting day on January 28th. first round. (Photo provided by Matti Matikainen/Xinhua)
HELSINKI, January 17 (Xinhua News Agency) Early voting for Finland’s presidential election began on Wednesday, more than a week before the first voting day on January 28.
Two of the nine candidates will compete in the second round on February 11th.
According to the latest opinion polls, there is a close race between the two leading candidates, former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb and former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto. According to the latest poll by Helsingin Sanomat (HS) newspaper, Mr Stubb has the support of 24% of voters, compared to 22% for Mr Haavisto.
Mr Stubbe is running as a candidate for the Conservative National Alliance, while Green Party politician Mr Haavist is a candidate for the Electoral Alliance. This is Harvist’s third time running for president.
Under Finland’s constitution, following reforms in the 1990s, the president’s powers are limited to foreign policy that the president undertakes “together with the government.” The Prime Minister represents Finland in the EU, and the President represents Finland at NATO summits.
Still, candidates have sought to differentiate themselves by addressing domestic policy issues that are beyond the president’s purview, such as labor market and Social Security strains. Regarding foreign and security policies, there were no major differences between the two countries.
Some analysts have noticed that the popularity of some candidates differs from the support of their political party.
According to opinion polls, Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate Jutta Urpilainen has just 5% support, but the SDP remains second in the country with 20.3%. Pekka Haavisto’s presidential approval rating, on the other hand, is 22%, significantly higher than the Green Party’s 8.9%.
Opinion researchers said many SDP voters have so far backed Haavisto because he has a realistic chance in the second round.
Finland Party candidate Jussi Halaaho received 13% support, while the party’s approval rating was 18%. Alexander Stubb’s 24% is in line with the Conservative Party’s 22.3% support in the latest HS poll.
A new poll is expected next week. Analysts say the top two candidates could change even after early voting begins. ■
A man looks at a voting poster for the Finnish presidential election on January 16, 2024 in Helsinki, Finland. Early voting for Finland’s presidential election began on Wednesday, more than a week before voting day on January 28th. first round. (Photo provided by Matti Matikainen/Xinhua)