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50-599: Eastern Lapland lies along the Russian border in northern Finland. As of 2019, it has a population of 15,808, a decrease of 31% since 2000; it is a rural and sparsely populated area. Outward migration and unemployment have increased in the region since the closure of an electronics factory and the decline of the pulp industry. Results of the 2018 Finnish presidential election : 65°48′05″N 24°32′40″E  /  65.8014°N 24.5444°E  / 65.8014; 24.5444 This Lapland (Finland) location article

100-734: A majority in all but 13 municipalities. Niinistö's second term was from 1 February 2018 to 1 March 2024. The incumbent President Sauli Niinistö was elected as the candidate of the National Coalition Party in the 2012 election. He was eligible for re-election and his decision for running again was closely followed throughout the latter half of his first term. On 29 May 2017, Niinistö announced that he would seek support for his candidacy as an independent candidate outside party politics. To become an official candidate, Niinistö needed 20,000 signatures from his supporters. Niinistö eventually gathered 156,000 signatures and his candidacy

150-528: A majority of the vote, a second round was held on 5 February, with advance voting between 25 and 31 January. Sauli Niinistö was elected the President of Finland for a term from 1 March 2012 until 1 March 2018. All eight political parties represented in Parliament nominated a candidate during the latter half of 2011. Incumbent President Tarja Halonen was ineligible for re-election, having served

200-583: A non-permanent member in the UN Security Council as several countries where homosexuality is outlawed might oppose the bid in this scenario. (Pietilä works for Suomen Lehtiyhtymä , which is owned by the NCP MP Eero Lehti ). The parties budgeted less money for their campaigns than during the last presidential election in 2006 . This was in part due to the economic crisis and in part due to scandals involving campaign funding over

250-505: A strong face for the Finns Party, his decision sparked much speculation on the party's decision, as party's presidential candidate was expected to also follow Soini as the chairman. In March 2017, Soini announced that he would not seek another term as the leader of the party. Soon after, the chairman of the parliamentary group Sampo Terho announced that he would seek chairmanship and, if elected, also presidential candidacy. Member of

300-487: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . 2018 Finnish presidential election Sauli Niinistö National Coalition Sauli Niinistö Independent Presidential elections were held in Finland on 28 January 2018. The incumbent Sauli Niinistö received 63% of the vote and was re-elected for a second term, avoiding a second round . He received a plurality of the vote in every municipality and

350-821: Is motivated by the support he felt he had around the country during his last campaign and the will to improve the security situation in the areas surrounding Finland. The Finns Party is likely to confirm their candidate in summer 2017. The leader of the Finns Party Timo Soini announced early on in November 2014 that he would not seek candidacy in the 2018 presidential election, after getting 3,43 % and 9,4 % of votes in 2006 and 2012 presidential elections respectively. He reaffirmed his decision in April 2016, encouraging party to move on and inviting new faces to enter party's primaries. As Soini had been

400-496: Is no such a thing as an illegal strike. Niinistö defended himself against his critics, saying that everyone has to participate in common efforts to thwart the economic crisis and that labour disputes should be resolved within legal means. Soini confronted Haavisto, saying that Haavisto's party, the Green League, wants to make people pay more for energy. Haavisto responded by slightly distancing himself from his party, saying that

450-461: The Centre Party competing for second place, ultimately defeating Väyrynen by a margin of 1.3 percentage points (about 37,000 votes). Niinistö won the second round with 63% of the vote, while Haavisto received 37% of the vote. The elections marked an end to an era of Social Democratic presidents. The Social Democrats had held the office for a continuous period of 30 years. It was also

500-564: The Christian Democrats decided to back the incumbent President Sauli Niinistö. It was previously speculated that the leader of the party and former presidential candidate Sari Essayah would run again. However, after Essayah announced that she would not seek the candidacy, the party convention decided to back Niinistö. Former Center Party politician and three-time presidential candidate Paavo Väyrynen announced that he would run as an independent candidate if he managed to gather

550-628: The European Union . Long-time Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja heavily criticised the assessment and called it "pure fantasy resembling something from the pen of Ilkka Remes ". 2012 Finnish presidential election Tarja Halonen SDP Sauli Niinistö National Coalition Presidential elections were held in Finland in January and February 2012. The first round took place on 22 January 2012 with advance voting between 11 and 17 January. Since no candidate received

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600-460: The leadership election , the decision was postponed by Halla-aho's request. A few days after the leadership election, twenty Finns Party MPs, including all cabinet ministers, defected to form a new parliamentary group under the name New Alternative . After the split, most of the potential presidential candidates had left the party. However, the newly elected vice-chairman Laura Huhtasaari and MP Tom Packalén announced that they were thinking about

650-570: The 20,000 signatures required from his supporters in time. By 26 November, he had gathered around 15,000 signatures. On 5 December, he announced that he had gathered the needed 20,000 signatures. The parties budgeted about as much for their campaigns than during the last presidential election in 2012. Ahead of the election, the campaign teams budgeted as follows: Niinistö 1,000,000–1,500,000 euros, Haatainen 550,000 euros, Haavisto and Vanhanen 500,000 euros, Torvalds 400,000 euros, Kyllönen 250,000 euros and Huhtasaari 200,000 euros. Väyrynen didn't leave

700-775: The Blue Reform parliamentary group Tiina Elovaara stated initially that the group was likely to have their own presidential candidate. However, as the party was formed after the previous parliamentary election and thus has no elected MPs, it would have required to gather a sufficient number of signatures to set an own candidate. Thus, ultimately, the party decided not to put forth their own candidate and neither did it formally back any running candidate. The party 2012 presidential candidate, Pekka Haavisto , announced in February 2017 that he will reprise his candidacy. The decision came after Haavisto had been approached multiple times by

750-665: The EU might make joining the NATO unnecessary in the long run. Biaudet stressed European defence as well, while Arhinmäki wanted to strengthen the role of the UN. EU issues were topmost in the YLE debate on 15 December as well. In a debate organised by Helsingin Sanomat and Nelonen on 17 January, the last day of advance voting, all candidates expressed concerns regarding the social marginalisation of

800-688: The European Parliament Jussi Halla-aho , Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö and Speaker of the Parliament Maria Lohela did also express their interest in candidacy, while Minister of Justice and Labor Jari Lindström declined early on. However, only Halla-aho decided to also seek chairmanship in the leadership election. Choosing the presidential candidate for the party was on the agenda for party congress in June 2017. However, after Jussi Halla-aho won

850-540: The Green Party. Previously the party leader Ville Niinistö , President Niinistö's nephew, had stated that he would not seek the candidacy. Haavisto was confirmed as the party's candidate on 12 February. The Left Alliance chose MEP Merja Kyllönen as the party's candidate on 18 March 2017, after being the only one interested in running. Former leader of the party Paavo Arhinmäki was also interested in running early on, but later decided to concentrate on running for

900-457: The MC-Info polls and TNS Gallup poll on 17 January omitted those interviewees who could not choose a candidate. The first round of the election was held in on 22 January, although 32.7% of eligible voters had cast their vote during the advance voting period between 11 and 17 January. The overall voter turnout in the first round was 72.8%. In the second round, 36.6% of votes were cast during

950-479: The Paavo Väyrynen campaign which says that "a house needs a master and a mistress." Haavisto's supporters interpreted this as a taunt on Haavisto's relationship status (Haavisto lives in a registered partnership with another man). Väyrynen responded by rejecting this interpretation and in turn accused Haavisto's supporters of deliberately twisting his words. The satirical television programme YleLeaks mocked

1000-747: The Parliament. In February 2017, Urpilainen also announced she would not seek presidency. The leader of the party Antti Rinne , the Governor of the Bank of Finland Erkki Liikanen and MEP Liisa Jaakonsaari likewise announced that they were not entering the presidential race. There were also talks within SDP on supporting a candidate outside the party, such as archbishop Kari Mäkinen , if no candidate would be found from within. Prominent SDP figureheads, such as Erkki Tuomioja and Lasse Lehtinen , even suggested

1050-713: The Prime Minister's request. The President can choose not to ratify a bill, but this only returns it to parliament, which must then approve the bill again in order for it to become a law without the President's signature. The President's power to appoint officials has been reduced, but he or she still appoints all military officers as well as judges. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces . The President also has

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1100-423: The advance voting period between 25 and 31 January. The overall turnout in the second round was 68.9%. Since no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round, a runoff election was held on 5 February between Sauli Niinistö (37.0% of first round votes) and Pekka Haavisto (18.8% of first round votes). Niinistö won the second round with 62.6% of the vote and was thus elected as president. The result of

1150-411: The candidacy were the former Prime Ministers Esko Aho and Anneli Jäätteenmäki , and former Minister of Economic Affairs Olli Rehn . Rehn declined the possibility stating that it wouldn't be possible to combine his duties as cabinet minister with campaigning. Aho did not comment his interest in candidacy, but it was considered unlikely for him to seek presidential nomination, as he was a candidate for

1200-467: The candidacy. On 4 August 2017, Halla-aho announced that the board of the Finns Party had chosen Huhtasaari as the presidential candidate of the party, and her candidacy was confirmed by the party council on 23 September. On 19 June 2017, Sampo Terho announced that a new party would be formed based on the New Alternative parliamentary group under the name Blue Reform . The vice-chair of

1250-531: The election in mid-December 2011. Niinistö's wife, Jenni Haukio, complained with a letter to YLE' s A Studio saying that she was a private person. An A-Studio political reporter also criticised Iltalehti of news in favour of Sauli Niinistö. Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja accused editor A.-P. Pietilä of undervaluing Haavisto's abilities in foreign policy based on his companion; Pietilä wrote, citing an unnamed civil servant, that Haavisto's election as president might complicate Finland's bid for being elected as

1300-428: The election is about individual candidates instead of parties. The final debate prior to the first round was held by YLE on 19 January. The candidates were asked to comment on former president Mauno Koivisto 's statement, where Koivisto expressed concern over the continued curtailment of the president's formal power. Soini and Väyrynen shared Koivisto's concern and were willing to increase the president's powers, while

1350-485: The election. In 2012, no such associations participated. Pekka Hallberg, the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, considered running as a non-partisan candidate, but eventually withdrew. Declined to run: Announced, then defeated in primary: Declined to run: The following persons initially expressed interest toward running or were mentioned in speculation, but did not sign up for

1400-469: The first time that a Green League candidate was on the runoff ballot. The president's powers were curtailed in the constitutional reform in 2000, and yet further in 2012. Currently the President leads the Finnish foreign policy together with the cabinet. EU affairs, however, fall to the Prime Minister's authority. The President has little domestic power. He or she can dissolve the parliament , but only at

1450-466: The growth of debt and Haavisto expressing concerns about the impacts of economic growth on the environment and inequality. Analysts Juhana Torkki and Pertti Timonen stated that both Niinistö and Haavisto tread carefully during campaigning prior to the runoff and that this campaign had less "drama" than that of the first round. Note: the Taloustutkimus polls in 2011 before November as well as

1500-510: The issue of returning Finnish Karelia to Finland in discussions with the Russian government. All candidates were opposed to Finland joining NATO , although for slightly differing reasons. Soini and Essayah underlined the importance of credible national defence, expressing concerns about defence cuts. Lipponen too was concerned about NATO membership's effects on the Defence Forces. Niinistö said that increasing security cooperation within

1550-459: The last few years. According to initial estimates, the four largest parties planned to spend less than 3 million euros combined. Of the second round candidates, Niinistö's budget was 1.2 million euros and Haavisto's budget was 725,000 euros. MTV3 organised a debate with all eight candidates on 14 December. When discussing the European sovereign debt crisis six of the candidates believed in

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1600-468: The maximum two terms. As no candidate received a majority of votes in the first round, a runoff election was held between the top two candidates, Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party (who had received 37% of the first-round vote), and Pekka Haavisto of the Green League (19%). Niinistö led opinion polls prior to the elections, while Haavisto was neck-and-neck with Paavo Väyrynen of

1650-510: The notion ahead of the election, but revealed afterwards that his team had collected 162,000 euros for the campaign. After the election, Niinistö announced that the 300,000 euros that were reserved for the second round would be donated to the charity. The first presidential debate was organised on 30 October 2017 by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum at Finlandia Hall . All confirmed candidates took part, excluding Kyllönen, who

1700-466: The office of Mayor of Helsinki. Social Democratic Party organised an informal membership poll in August 2017 for electing the party's presidential candidate, with three candidates entering the race, MPs Maarit Feldt-Ranta , Tuula Haatainen and Sirpa Paatero . The final decision based on the membership poll was made on 2 September 2017, when it was revealed that Haatainen had received the most votes in

1750-444: The other six candidates were content with the current situation. When discussing NATO, Väyrynen and Arhinmäki accused Niinistö and Lipponen of being too favourable toward NATO membership. Niinistö and Lipponen denied these charges, with the latter dismissing them as "conspiracy theories". Helsingin Sanomat wrote that during a YLE debate on 30 January "practically the only question" to bring out differences between Niinistö and Haavisto

1800-402: The party's primary, which started on 22 August. Declined to run: The following persons were mentioned in speculation, but none of them signed up for the party's primary by the deadline 9 September. Paavo Väyrynen was the only announced candidate and thus a primary was not needed. Declined to run: According to political analysts Salla Laaksonen and Kimmo Elo, the main dividing line between

1850-539: The poll. Haatainen ultimately gained 48.6% of the votes against Feldt-Ranta's 42.3% and Paatero's 8.6%. Before Feldt-Ranta, Haatainen and Paatero entered the party primary, Social Democratic Party was struggling to find potential candidates, as most of the prominent politicians had declined the candidacy. From early on, there was speculation on two possible candidates, Eero Heinäluoma and Jutta Urpilainen . In June 2016, Heinäluoma announced that he would not seek presidency due to his wife's recent death and ongoing work in

1900-590: The possibility of backing the incumbent president Sauli Niinistö. The Swedish People's Party decided to choose their candidate in the party congress in June 2017. As no one else entered the party's primary on 11 June, Member of the European Parliament Nils Torvalds was nominated as the party candidate. In Spring 2016, then leader of the party, Carl Haglund stated that he was thinking about candidacy, but renounced his leadership and left politics later that year. On 19 August 2017,

1950-502: The power to pardon anyone convicted of a crime. With the curtailment of the President's formal powers, many analysts have emphasized the President's position as a leader of values. All eight parties represented in the Parliament nominated a candidate. The nomination was unanimous in seven parties, while the Social Democratic Party's candidate was decided in a primary, which was won by Paavo Lipponen with 67% of

2000-402: The presidential candidates in this election is not the traditional division over ideology, but instead voters are placing more stress on a candidate's views on the EU and social issues. Professor Leif Åberg has described the campaign as "relatively civil," but there have been a few accusations of negative campaigning. Some of Pekka Haavisto's supporters felt offended over a television advert by

2050-651: The prime minister, Soini wanted to pursue more independent policies if elected. Niinistö, Haavisto, Arhinmäki and Biaudet were worried about the opinion polls' effect on tactical voting and were willing to ban the publishment of opinion polls two weeks prior to an election. In a second MTV3 debate on 18 January Lipponen accused Niinistö of hypocrisy, saying that although Niinistö has spoken against greediness he has also accepted funding from millionaires, who, according to Lipponen, have laid off thousands of workers. Arhinmäki attacked Niinistö over Niinistö's condemnation of illegal strikes, with Arhinmäki himself maintaining that there

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2100-411: The second round was verified on 8 February. Of the six candidates defeated on the first round, Väyrynen was the only one not to express his support for either of the second-round candidates. Soini and Essayah backed Niinistö, while Lipponen, Arhinmäki and Biaudet supported Haavisto. Mikael Jungner , the party secretary of the Social Democratic Party, said that he would not continue in his role due to

2150-540: The supervisory board of Sberbank at the time. Jäätteenmäki, an incumbent Vice President of the European Parliament , said running for president was "not on her agenda". As no challengers appeared till the deadline of 11 May, Vanhanen was the sole candidate in June's party congress and was confirmed as the Centre Party's candidate in the presidential election. Vanhanen has said that his candidacy

2200-407: The survival of the euro, while Soini and Väyrynen believed that the eurozone would dissolve in one way or another. Väyrynen accused Lipponen and Niinistö of misleading the parliament, when Finland joined the common currency in the early years of the 2000s (when Lipponen and Niinistö were the leading figures of the government). Soini was the only candidate to answer that as president he would address

2250-415: The votes defeating Tuula Haatainen , who got 22% of the votes, and Ilkka Kantola who received 11% of the votes. Each candidate was given a number from 2 to 9 – voting took place by writing the candidate's number on the ballot paper. Constituency associations for independents or parties not represented in the Parliament must gather 20,000 signatures from eligible voters in order to participate in

2300-511: The youth. All eight were also critical toward possible increases of Finland's guarantees in the European Financial Stability Facility , although Lipponen stressed the importance of European cooperation and Biaudet said that Finland should actively participate in the solving of the EU's debt problems. While seven candidates thought that the president's role in EU affairs is primarily supporting the cabinet led by

2350-667: Was confirmed on 25 September. Soon after Niinistö's announcement, the leader of the National Coalition Party Petteri Orpo tweeted that Niinistö has the party's full support. The Centre Party decided on 30 November 2015 that the party would choose their presidential candidate already in June 2016. Soon after, former Prime Minister and Centre Party's presidential candidate in 2006 election, Matti Vanhanen , announced that he would run for candidacy. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä declined his interest early on. Other prominent names in speculations for

2400-498: Was on a business trip. The event marks the earliest moment that the incumbent president has taken part in debates. The debates continued at the University of Helsinki on 13 November, with Vanhanen being absent after being hospitalised for heart arrhythmia . As Väyrynen became an official candidate only in early December, he was not invited to the first three debates and thus the first debate, that gathered all candidates together,

2450-644: Was organised on 13 December 2017. In October 2017, the Security Committee of the Finnish Ministry of Defence released an assessment on the possibilities of Russian involvement in the presidential election. The assessment addressed nine possible scenarios, ranging from spreading false information through social media to a political assassination. The Security Committee also suggested ten possible objectives for Russian involvement, including obstructing discussion on NATO and isolating Finland from

2500-512: Was their stance on Finland's possible future membership of the UN Security Council. Niinistö said that, if a member, more active participation in peace keeping operations would be expected from Finland, while Haavisto emphasised civilian crisis management. In another YLE debate on 2 February, economic issues showed some distinctions between the two candidates with Niinistö underlining the importance of economic growth and restraining

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