Presidential elections were held in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
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 a majority of the vote, a
second round
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds e ...
was held on 5 February, with advance voting between 25 and 31 January.
Sauli Niinistö
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (; born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who has served as president of Finland since March 2012, the 12th person to hold that office.
A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Part ...
was elected the
President of Finland
The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...
for a term from 1 March 2012 until 1 March 2018.
All eight
political parties
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...
represented in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
nominated a candidate during the latter half of 2011. Incumbent President
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisati ...
was ineligible for re-election, having served the maximum two terms.
In the first round, no candidate received a majority of votes.
Thus, a runoff election was held between Sauli Niinistö of the
National Coalition Party
sv, Samlingspartiet
, leader1_title = Chairman
, leader1_name = Petteri Orpo
, leader2_title = Deputy chairs
, leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen
, merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...
, with 37% of the first-round vote, and
Pekka Haavisto
Pekka Olavi Haavisto (born 23 March 1958) is a Finnish politician of the Green League who has been serving as the Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2019.
Haavisto returned to the Finnish Parliament in the Finnish parliamentary election of Ma ...
of the
Green League
The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland.
Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...
, who received 18.8% of the first-round vote.
Niinistö led the polls prior to the elections, while Haavisto was neck-and-neck with
Paavo Väyrynen
Paavo Matti Väyrynen (born 2 September 1946) is a Finnish politician and former member of the Finnish Parliament who has represented the Seven Star Movement, the Citizen's Party and Centre Party. He is currently member of Centre Party. Väyryn ...
of the
Centre Party competing for second place, ultimately defeating Väyrynen by a margin of 1.3
percentage point
A percentage point or percent point is the unit (measurement), unit for the Difference (mathematics), arithmetic difference between two percentages. For example, moving up from 40 percent to 44 percent is an increase of 4 percentage points, but a ...
s (about 37,000 votes). Sauli Niinistö won the second round with 62.6% of the votes (1.8 million votes), while Pekka Haavisto received 37.4% of the votes (1.1 million votes).
The elections marked an end to an era of
Social Democratic
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...
presidents. The Social Democrats had held the office for a continuous period of 30 years. It was also the first time that a Green League candidate was on the runoff ballot.
Power of the president
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
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, but only at 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 Finnish Defence Forces ( fi, Puolustusvoimat, sv, Försvarsmakten) are the military of Finland. The Finnish Defence Forces consist of the Finnish Army, the Finnish Navy and the Finnish Air Force. In wartime the Finnish Border Guard (which i ...
. The President also has 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.
Candidates
All eight parties represented in the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
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 the votes defeating
Tuula Haatainen
Tuula Irmeli Haatainen (born 11 February 1960) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament, with the Social Democratic Party. She was the Minister of Education 2003–2005 and the Minister of Social Affairs and Health 2005–20 ...
, who got 22% of the votes, and
Ilkka Kantola
Ilkka Tapani Kantola (born 17 March 1957) is a Finnish politician and Lutheran minister. He has been a Social Democratic member of the Parliament of Finland since 2007. Previously he served as Bishop of Turku.
Life
Kantola was born in Rymättyl ...
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 association
An electoral district association (french: association de circonscription enregistrée), commonly known as a riding association (french: association de comté) or constituency association, is the basic unit of a political party at the level of the ...
s for
independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
s or parties not represented in the Parliament must gather 20,000 signatures from eligible voters in order to participate in 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.
Confirmed candidates
Previously plausible candidates
;National Coalition Party
Declined to run:
*
Jorma Ollila
Jorma Jaakko Ollila CBE (born 15 August 1950) is a Finnish businessman who was chairman of Royal Dutch Shell from 1 June 2006 to May 2015, and at Nokia Corporation chairman from 1999 to 2012 and CEO from 1992 to 2006. He has been a director of ...
, Chairman of
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
and
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
, was proposed as a possible joint candidate of the National Coalition Party and the Centre Party by Professor
Erkki Laatikainen.
He declined presidential candidacy for any party in August 2011.
*
Alexander Stubb
Cai-Göran Alexander Stubb (born 1 April 1968) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2014 to 2015. He rose to politics as a researcher specialized in the affairs of the European Union and was elected to the European ...
, Minister for Europe and Foreign Trade and former
Minister for Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...
.
;Social Democratic Party
Announced, then defeated in primary:
*
Ilkka Kantola
Ilkka Tapani Kantola (born 17 March 1957) is a Finnish politician and Lutheran minister. He has been a Social Democratic member of the Parliament of Finland since 2007. Previously he served as Bishop of Turku.
Life
Kantola was born in Rymättyl ...
, Member of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and former Bishop of the
Archdiocese of Turku
The Archdiocese of Turku ( fi, Turun arkkihiippakunta, sv, Åbo ärkestift), historically known as '' Archdiocese of Åbo'', is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and its see city is ...
.
*
Tuula Haatainen
Tuula Irmeli Haatainen (born 11 February 1960) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament, with the Social Democratic Party. She was the Minister of Education 2003–2005 and the Minister of Social Affairs and Health 2005–20 ...
, former Minister of Education, former Minister of Social Affairs and Health.
Declined to run:
The following persons initially expressed interest toward running or were mentioned in speculation, but did not sign up for the party's primary, which started on 22 August.
*
Erkki Tuomioja,
Minister for Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between coun ...
.
*
Mitro Repo
Mitro Repo (born September 3, 1958) is a Finnish Orthodox Christian priest. He was member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2014, elected as an independent candidate on the Social Democratic Party's ticket. He ran also in the 2014 electio ...
,
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
and pastor in the
Helsinki Orthodox Parish (temporarily banned from serving).
*
Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.
Ahtisa ...
, former president and
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...
laureate.
*
Maria Guzenina-Richardson, Minister of Health and Social Services.
*
Tuire Santamäki-Vuori, President of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors.
*
Lauri Ihalainen, Minister of Labour, former President of the
Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions
The Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions, usually referred to by the acronym SAK ( fi, Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö; sv, Finlands Fackförbunds Centralorganisation, FFC) is the largest trade union confederation in Finland. Its ...
.
*
Johannes Koskinen, Member of Parliament, former Minister of Justice.
*
Tarja Filatov
Tarja Filatov (born 9 August 1963 in Hämeenlinna) is a Finnish member of Parliament representing the Häme constituency since 1995, and a former government minister. She belongs to the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP), and since February ...
, Member of Parliament, former Minister of Labour.
*
Pentti Arajärvi
Dr. Pentti Ilkka Olavi Arajärvi (born 2 June 1948, Helsinki) is a Finland, Finnish Doctor of Law, Professor Emeritus and Docent of the University of Helsinki, a former civil service official and a Social Democratic Party of Finland, Social Democr ...
, Professor of the
University of Eastern Finland
The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio.
History
The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...
, Doctor of Law,
First Gentleman
First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical head of state or chief executive. The term is also used to describe a woman seen to be at the t ...
of Finland.
*
Raimo Sailas,
Secretary of State in the
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
.
*
Kaari Utrio
Kaari Marjatta Utrio (born 28 July 1942, official surname Utrio-Linnilä, formerly Virkajärvi) is a Finnish writer. She has written over 35 historical novels and 13 non-fiction books on historical topics. She is a historian, holding the degree ...
, a writer.
*
Suvi-Anne Siimes
Sini Maaria Suvi-Anne Siimes (born 1 June 1963, in Helsinki) is a former chair of the Finnish Left Alliance. She quit the party in 2006 because she did not want to support the party's former taistoists (orthodox pro-Soviet communists).
Before h ...
, former leader of
Left Alliance, was proposed as a united candidate from the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
.
*
Erkki Liikanen
Erkki Antero Liikanen (born 19 September 1950) is a Finnish social democratic politician and a former Governor of the Bank of Finland.
Early life and education
Erkki Antero Liikanen obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science (Economic ...
, Governor of the
Bank of Finland.
*
Lasse Lehtinen
Lasse Lehtinen (born 23 January 1947 in Kotka) is a Finnish politician, former Member of the Finnish Parliament and former Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which is part of the P ...
, former Member of Parliament, former Member of European Parliament.
*
Eero Heinäluoma
Eero Olavi Heinäluoma (born 4 July 1955 in Kokkola) is a Finnish politician who has been serving as Member of the European Parliament since 2019. A former chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he was replaced in the party's leadership ...
,
Speaker of the Parliament of Finland
The speaker of the Parliament of Finland (Finnish ''eduskunnan puhemies'', Swedish ''riksdagens talman''), along with two deputy speakers, is elected by Parliament during the first plenary session each year. Speakers are chosen for a year at a ti ...
.
*
Liisa Jaakonsaari
Liisa Anneli Jaakonsaari (born 2 September 1945) is a Finnish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists ...
, Member of the European Parliament, former Minister of Labour.
;Centre Party
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.
*
Esko Aho
Esko Tapani Aho (born 20 May 1954) is a Finnish politician who was prime minister of Finland from 1991 to 1995.
Early life and career
Aho was born in Veteli, Finland. Prior to attending university, he began a career in politics. From 1974 to ...
, former Prime Minister.
*
Christoffer Taxell
Lars Evald Christoffer Taxell (born July 14, 1948, in Turku, Finland) is a Finland Swedish politician, business leader and former chancellor of Åbo Akademi University. He is known in Finland as an influential decision-maker in Finland Swedis ...
, former Minister of Justice and former Minister of Education, was proposed as a possible joint candidate of the Centre Party and the Swedish People's Party.
*
Paula Lehtomäki
Paula Lehtomäki (born 29 November 1972 in Kuhmo, Finland) is a Finnish politician. She started her political career in 1996, when she was elected to the Kuhmo town council. In 1999 she was elected to the Finnish Parliament, and again in 2003. In ...
, Member of Parliament, former Minister of the Environment, former Minister for Foreign Trade and Development.
*
Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party and President of the European Council in 2006. In his earlier career, h ...
, former Prime Minister.
*
Mari Kiviniemi, party leader, former Prime Minister.
*
Seppo Kääriäinen
Seppo Arimo Kääriäinen (born 29 March 1948 in Iisalmen maalaiskunta) is a Finnish politician of the Centre Party and Doctor in Social Sciences. He served as the Minister of Defence of Finland between from 24 June 2003 to 19 April 2007. He ...
, Member of Parliament, former Minister of Defence, former Minister of Trade and Industry.
*
Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born 11 February 1955) is a Finnish politician who was the first female Prime Minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) ...
, Member of European Parliament, former Prime Minister
*
Olli Rehn
Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargem ...
,
European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs
The European Commissioner for Economy is a member of the European Commission. The current Economy Commissioner is Paolo Gentiloni.
From 2014 to 2019 the post was named ''Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs''. Un ...
.
*Jorma Ollila, Chairman of
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
and
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...
, was proposed as a possible joint candidate of the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party by Professor
Erkki Laatikainen.
*
Sirkka-Liisa Anttila
Sirkka-Liisa Anttila (born 20 December 1943, Marttila) is a Finnish politician and was the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet and Mari Kiviniemi's cabinet. She represents the Centre Party.
Political career
* ...
, former Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.
;Swedish People's Party
Declined to run:
*
Christoffer Taxell
Lars Evald Christoffer Taxell (born July 14, 1948, in Turku, Finland) is a Finland Swedish politician, business leader and former chancellor of Åbo Akademi University. He is known in Finland as an influential decision-maker in Finland Swedis ...
, former Minister of Justice and former Minister of Education, was proposed as a possible joint candidate of the Swedish People's Party and the Centre Party.
;Other parties
*
Terttu Savola, party leader and a member of Espoo City Council, was a proposed candidate of
For the Poor. Failed to collect the 20,000 signatures needed for a minor party candidate.
*
Harri Kivistö, party secretary, was endorsed by the
Pirate Party
Pirate Party is a label adopted by Political party, political parties around the world. Pirate parties support Civil and political rights, civil rights, direct democracy (including e-democracy) or alternatively Participatory democracy, partici ...
, but the party withdrew from the race, citing "stiff
bureaucracy
The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...
" the party encountered as the reason.
Campaign
According to political analysts Salla Laaksonen and Kimmo Elo, the main dividing line between 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 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 the election in mid-December 2011. Niinistö's wife, Jenni Haukio, complained with a letter to ''YLEs ''A Studio'' saying that she was a private person. An ''A-Studio'' political reporter also criticised ''
Iltalehti
''Iltalehti'' (literally "Evening newspaper") is a tabloid newspaper published in Helsinki, Finland.
History and profile
''Iltalehti'' was established in 1980 as afternoon edition of newspaper ''Uusi Suomi''. Alma Media is the owner of ''Iltal ...
'' 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 a non-permanent member in the
UN Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
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
Eero Heikki Lehti (born 23 August 1944 in Tuusula, Finland) is a Finnish businessman, the chairman of the city council of Kerava, and was a member of the Finnish parliament since 2007 until 2019. He is the founder of Taloustutkimus Oy and also the ...
).
Funding
The parties budgeted less money for their campaigns than during the last presidential election in
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
. This was in part due to the
economic crisis
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...
and in part due to scandals involving campaign funding over 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.
Debates
![Valaffischer presidentvalet 2012 Gertrudsbacken](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Valaffischer_presidentvalet_2012_Gertrudsbacken.jpg)
;First round
MTV3
MTV3 ( fi, MTV Kolme, sv, MTV Tre) is a Finnish commercial television station. It had the biggest audience share of all Finnish TV channels until Yle TV1 (from Yle) took the lead. The letters MTV stand for Mainos-TV (literally "Advertisement ...
organised a debate with all eight candidates on 14 December. When discussing the
European sovereign debt crisis
The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone membe ...
six of the candidates believed in the survival of the euro, while Soini and Väyrynen believed that the
eurozone
The euro area, commonly called eurozone (EZ), is a currency union of 19 member states of the European Union (EU) that have adopted the euro (€) as their primary currency and sole legal tender, and have thus fully implemented EMU policies ...
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 the issue of
returning Finnish Karelia to Finland in discussions with the Russian government. All candidates were opposed to Finland joining
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, 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 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
Yleisradio Oy ( Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, found ...
debate on 15 December as well.
In a debate organised by
Helsingin Sanomat
''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...
and
Nelonen
Nelonen () is a Finnish commercial television channel. It started out as Helsinki's local television channel PTV in 1990 on the HTV cable network (now part of DNA Welho), and changed its name first to PTV4. On June 1, 1997, the channel expand ...
on 17 January, the last day of advance voting, all candidates expressed concerns regarding the social marginalisation of the youth. All eight were also critical toward possible increases of Finland's guarantees in the
European Financial Stability Facility
The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to address the European sovereign-debt crisis. It was agreed by the Council of the European Union on 9 May 2010, with the objecti ...
, 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 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 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 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
Mauno Henrik Koivisto (; 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 19 ...
'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 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".
;Second round
Helsingin Sanomat wrote that during a YLE debate on 30 January "practically the only question" to bring out differences between Niinistö and Haavisto 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
Peacekeeping comprises activities intended to create conditions that favour lasting peace. Research generally finds that peacekeeping reduces civilian and battlefield deaths, as well as reduces the risk of renewed warfare.
Within the United N ...
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 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 an Haavisto tread carefully during campaigning prior to the runoff and that this campaign had less "drama" than that of the first round.
Opinion polling
;First round
Note: the Taloustutkimus polls in 2011 before November as well as the MC-Info polls and TNS Gallup poll on 17 January omitted those interviewees who could not choose a candidate.
;Second round
Results
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 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
The two-round system (TRS), also known as runoff voting, second ballot, or ballotage, is a voting method used to elect a single candidate, where voters cast a single vote for their preferred candidate. It generally ensures a majoritarian resul ...
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 the second round was verified on 8 February.
Reactions
;First round
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 the poor showing of Lipponen.
References
External links
*
Ministry of Justice – Elections website
{{Finnish elections
2012
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2012 elections in Finland
January 2012 events in Europe
February 2012 events in Europe