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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Finland |
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A presidential election was held in Finland on 15 and 29 January 2006 which resulted in the re-election of Tarja Halonen as President of Finland for a second six-year term.
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland is a country in Northern Europe bordering the Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia, and Gulf of Finland, between Norway to the north, Sweden to the northwest, and Russia to the east. Finland is a Nordic country and is situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia. The capital and largest city is Helsinki. Other major cities are Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, Oulu and Turku.
Tarja Kaarina Halonen 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 Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), and as the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary (1974-1975) and a member of the City Council of Helsinki (1977-1996). Halonen was a Social Democratic Party member of parliament from 1979 until her election to the presidency in 2000. She also served as a minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from 1987 to 1990, as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1991, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000.
The President of the Republic of Finland is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the President and the Finnish Government, with the former possessing only residual powers. The President is directly elected by universal suffrage for a term of six years. Since 1991, no President may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The President must be a Finnish citizen by birth. The Presidential office was established in the Constitution Act of 1919. Since March 1, 2012, the President of Finland has been Sauli Niinistö. In May 2017, Niinistö announced that he would seek re-election in the 2018 presidential election, running as an independent candidate. NCP and the Christian Democrat Party supported his candidacy. He won re-election in the first round on 28 January 2018 with 62.7% of the vote and his second term began on 1 February 2018.
The first round of voting in Finnish presidential elections always takes place on the third Sunday of January, in this case 15 January 2006. As no candidate received more than half of the vote, a second round was held on 29 January between the two highest placed candidates from the first round, Tarja Halonen and Sauli Niinistö. Tarja Halonen, the incumbent, won the final round by 3.6 percentage points. The newly elected president formally took office for her second term on 1 March, and would have done so on 1 February, had no run-off been necessary (Constitution 55 §).
Voting is a method for a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, in order to make a collective decision or express an opinion, usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holders of high office by voting. Residents of a place represented by an elected official are called "constituents", and those constituents who cast a ballot for their chosen candidate are called "voters". There are different systems for collecting votes.
Sauli Väinämö Niinistö is a Finnish politician and the 12th President of Finland, in office since 2012.
Advance voting is possible in Finnish elections, and the dates for this in the first round were the 4th, 5th and 7th to 10 January. Finnish citizens voting abroad could vote from the 4th to the 7th of January. An advantage to advance voting is that those doing so have a wider choice of polling stations (typically post offices, such as the one shown here), whereas on the actual election day the polling stations are fixed, usually schools, libraries or town halls.
The candidates are listed below following their candidate numbers. This list was confirmed by the Electoral District Committee of Helsinki on 15 December 2005.
The law states that candidate numbers start from number 2. There are various justifications, such as preventing any candidate from using the slogan "number 1" for publicity, preventing ambiguity between the numbers 1 and 7, or preventing votes from being accidentally discounted because of a resemblance to a tickmark.
The Social Democratic Party of Finland, shortened to the Social Democrats, is a social-democratic political party in Finland. The party holds 35 seats in Finland's parliament. The party has set many fundamental policies of Finnish society during its representation in the Finnish Government. Founded in 1899, the SDP is Finland's oldest active political party. The SDP has a close relationship with Finland's largest trade union, SAK, and is a member of the Socialist International, the Party of European Socialists, and SAMAK.
The National Coalition Party is a centre-right political party in Finland considered to be liberal, conservative, and liberal-conservative. Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the three largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party and the Centre Party. The current party chair is Petteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. The party self-statedly bases its politics on "freedom, responsibility and democracy, equal opportunities, education, supportiveness, tolerance and caring" and supports multiculturalism and gay rights. It is pro-NATO and pro-European as well as a member of the European People's Party (EPP).
Matti Taneli Vanhanen is a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party, and in the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council. In his earlier career he was a journalist. Vanhanen is the son of professor Tatu Vanhanen and Anni Tiihonen.
The main theme of discussion in the campaign preceding the election was the President's powers and whether they should be limited further. The Green League's candidate Heidi Hautala suggested that the President be completely stripped of all powers relating to foreign affairs and foreign policy, but this proposal met with fierce resistance from the three candidates of the largest parties – Tarja Halonen, Matti Vanhanen and Sauli Niinistö. Halonen, the main left-wing candidate and incumbent president, has further indicated that the president's powers should not be increased either, since it would, in her opinion, reduce the degree of democratic decision-making.
The Green League, shortened to the Greens, is a green political party in Finland. The Green League is among the largest political parties in Finland. The Greens hold fifteen seats in the Finnish Parliament and one in the European Parliament. The party is a member of the Global Greens and the European Green Party, while its MEP, Heidi Hautala, sits with The Greens–European Free Alliance in the European Parliament. Originally split on whether Finland should join the European Union, the Green League is pro-European and was the first Finnish party in favor of the federalisation of the European Union.
Heidi Anneli Hautala is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Finland. She is a member of the Green League, part of the European Green Party.
Another important election theme was the threat of international terrorism and how to counter it. The main right-wing candidate, Sauli Niinistö, stated in the last presidential debate that he would consider Finland's membership "in a more European" North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) after 2008 to achieve such an end, but this was strongly rejected by the other main candidates. The only candidate openly embracing NATO-membership was the other right-wing candidate, Henrik Lax, of the Swedish People's Party. According to a poll carried out by the Taloustutkimus polling agency in July 2005, most Finnish people believe that NATO membership would increase the risk of international terrorism in Finland instead of decreasing it. This is also the view held by Vanhanen, of the Centre Party, and Halonen.
Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as a means to create terror among masses of people; or fear to achieve a religious or political aim. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence during peacetime or in war against non-combatants. The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but gained mainstream popularity in the 1970s in news reports and books covering the conflicts in Northern Ireland, the Basque Country and Palestine. The increased use of suicide attacks from the 1980s onwards was typified by the September 11 attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. in 2001.
Henrik Lax is a Finnish politician and former Member of the European Parliament with the Swedish People's Party, Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and sat on the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
Other themes included Christian values emphasised by Bjarne Kallis; stronger ties around the Baltic Sea and a stronger European Union by Henrik Lax; criticism of the EU by Timo Soini and the state of entrepreneurship and the returning of Karelia by Arto Lahti.
Sauli Niinistö raised the state of work as another theme. His campaign slogan was "President of the workers" (Työväen presidentti) and this provoked many union activists and left-wing supporters and voters. However, he was also criticised for trying to lure left-wing voters to vote for him with this slogan. Niinistö's campaign stated that there was neither "left-wing work" or "right-wing work" but only Finnish work for Finnish welfare.
Here is a collection of latest poll results. The opinion pollsters' methods may vary, as do the samples and the conducting time, which give the differences.
runoff election | MTV3 16-18/01 | HS 16–17/01 |
---|---|---|
3 Sauli Niinistö | 45 % | 47 % |
9 Tarja Halonen | 55 % | 53 % |
The total percentages may exceed 100% due to rounding.
Two of the latest polls made by Taloustutkimus [7] and Suomen Gallup [9] raised discussion over whether Halonen would gain the 50%+ majority of the votes necessary to win the election in a single round. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the reason why Halonen's support has decreased in polls might be an increase in the number of people not wanting to reveal their favourite candidate: some of them plead to the secrecy of voting. The airtime and space given by the media for the candidates may have given the candidates with smaller support the opportunity to bring their opinions to the public, which might add to their support in the polls in question.
On the other hand, the latest poll conducted by Research International (2) showed no change in Halonen's popularity between the three different weeks.
The candidates and their supporters read their polls for their advantage. In Timo Soini's mind there was a big surprise waiting in the ballot boxes; he did, in fact, receive 3.4% of the vote, which was much more than the support for his True Finns party in the last parliamentary election. Tarja Halonen stated this election as being the only one showing such a big support to her: "The crossbar is trembling just right", she said on January 10, meaning the excitement of getting the majority of the votes. Sauli Niinistö publicly stated that there would be a second round between him and Halonen.
Voting in the Finnish 2006 presidential election took place from 09:00 to 20:00 on both of the two election days, with specifically designated periods for advance voting before both the first and second rounds. Every municipality was required by law to have at least one polling station. Voting was organised abroad for expatriate Finnish citizens at Finnish embassies, consulates and honorary consulates worldwide. The candidates were voted for directly by the electorate. Votes were counted nationally.
The counting of advance votes started at 15:00, and was expected to finish before 20:00, when the first preliminary results were announced. The preliminary counting of the election day votes began at 20:00, after which the votes were delivered to the central election committee in Helsinki, which performed a recount. The definitive result in Finnish presidential elections is required by law to be confirmed on the following Tuesday at 10:00 at the latest. However, enough votes are normally counted during the first hour after polling stations close for an unofficial, but clear, result to be announced.
Candidate | Nominating party | Votes 1st round | % |
---|---|---|---|
Tarja Halonen | Social Democratic Party | 1,397,030 | 46.3 |
Sauli Niinistö | National Coalition Party | 725,866 | 24.1 |
Matti Vanhanen | Centre Party | 561,990 | 18.6 |
Heidi Hautala | Green League | 105,248 | 3.5 |
Timo Soini | True Finns | 103,492 | 3.4 |
Bjarne Kallis | Christian Democrats | 61,483 | 2.0 |
Henrik Lax | Swedish People's Party | 48,703 | 1.6 |
Arto Lahti | (independent) | 12,989 | 0.4 |
Source: Ministry of Justice [3] |
Result of advance voting
candidate | party | votes | % |
---|---|---|---|
Tarja Halonen | Social Democratic Party | 636,143 | 49.4 |
Sauli Niinistö | National Coalition Party | 281,901 | 21.9 |
Matti Vanhanen | Centre Party | 258,034 | 20.0 |
Timo Soini | True Finns | 33,275 | 2.6 |
Heidi Hautala | Green League | 31,406 | 2.4 |
Bjarne Kallis | Christian Democrats | 23,009 | 1.8 |
Henrik Lax | Swedish People's Party | 17,654 | 1.4 |
Arto Lahti | (independent) | 5,810 | 0.5 |
A second round run-off was held on 29 January 2006 between Tarja Halonen (Social Democratic Party) and Sauli Niinistö (National Coalition Party).
Opinion polls predicted a close election. A January 19 poll (HS Gallup) gave Halonen 53% and Niinistö 47% of the vote. By comparison, in October 2005 a clear majority of 70% would have voted for Halonen when asked to choose between her and Niinistö .
Four of the six candidates who did not make it to the second round, Matti Vanhanen, Bjarne Kallis, Henrik Lax and Arto Lahti publicly expressed their support for Sauli Niinistö in the runoff election. This reflects a loose alliance termed porvariyhteistyö in the Finnish media, (roughly translated as "bourgeois collaboration"). According to Niinistö and Vanhanen, the main centre-right parties (the National Coalition Party and the Centre Party) had agreed about a year earlier on some level of co-operation to better compete with Halonen, who was supported by both the Social Democrats and Left Alliance.
Province | Tarja Halonen | Sauli Niinistö | Matti Vanhanen | Heidi Hautala | Timo Soini | Bjarne Kallis | Henrik Lax | Arto Lahti | Electorate | Votes | Valid votes | Invalid votes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Southern Savonia | 41,939 | 17,448 | 24,944 | 1,890 | 2,914 | 1,766 | 187 | 343 | 129,079 | 91,812 | 91,431 | 381 |
Northern Savonia | 62,276 | 23,964 | 40,128 | 3,158 | 5,426 | 2,251 | 332 | 513 | 197,683 | 138,352 | 138,048 | 304 |
North Karelia | 41,812 | 15,605 | 25,274 | 2,244 | 4,520 | 1,682 | 177 | 351 | 132,825 | 91,942 | 91,665 | 277 |
Kainuu | 19,659 | 6,380 | 16,001 | 725 | 1,784 | 706 | 84 | 172 | 67,545 | 45,629 | 45,511 | 118 |
Uusimaa | 366,169 | 253,635 | 71,823 | 45,389 | 22,345 | 14,281 | 16,991 | 3,602 | 1,025,287 | 796,461 | 794,235 | 2,226 |
Eastern Uusimaa | 24,352 | 12,292 | 6,739 | 2,176 | 1,159 | 1,023 | 5,475 | 208 | 69,688 | 53,543 | 53,424 | 119 |
Southwest Finland | 130,953 | 73,296 | 36,741 | 9,801 | 8,754 | 3,990 | 4,372 | 1,196 | 355,961 | 269,907 | 269,103 | 804 |
Tavastia Proper | 49,183 | 24,500 | 15,860 | 2,330 | 3,038 | 1,758 | 276 | 440 | 131,359 | 97,664 | 97,385 | 279 |
Päijänne Tavastia | 55,884 | 29,570 | 17,026 | 2,819 | 4,370 | 2,279 | 347 | 624 | 156,066 | 113,212 | 112,919 | 293 |
Kymenlaakso | 53,592 | 25,472 | 17,055 | 2,269 | 4,579 | 1,957 | 450 | 583 | 146,922 | 106,412 | 105,957 | 455 |
South Karelia | 36,593 | 17,960 | 17,662 | 1,734 | 2,992 | 1,361 | 206 | 481 | 107,949 | 79,230 | 78,989 | 241 |
Central Finland | 75,328 | 27,239 | 34,830 | 4,740 | 6,088 | 3,449 | 342 | 552 | 209,443 | 153,025 | 152,568 | 457 |
Southern Ostrobothnia | 33,091 | 23,107 | 45,989 | 1,282 | 4,881 | 3,184 | 160 | 317 | 150,707 | 112,339 | 112,011 | 328 |
Ostrobothnia | 47,288 | 15,466 | 12,192 | 2,508 | 1,946 | 6,294 | 15,133 | 227 | 132,754 | 101,359 | 101,054 | 305 |
Satakunta | 71,633 | 28,339 | 26,793 | 2,512 | 5,147 | 2,184 | 357 | 897 | 185,999 | 138,255 | 137,862 | 393 |
Pirkanmaa | 134,067 | 72,352 | 37,063 | 10,795 | 10,819 | 5,593 | 1,002 | 1,237 | 364,658 | 273,777 | 272,928 | 849 |
Central Ostrobothnia | 13,322 | 5,366 | 14,904 | 608 | 1,529 | 3,654 | 870 | 92 | 53,660 | 40,430 | 40,345 | 85 |
Northern Ostrobothnia | 82,342 | 36,595 | 67,230 | 5,632 | 7,433 | 2,806 | 386 | 741 | 280,672 | 203,656 | 203,165 | 491 |
Lapland | 49,524 | 16,293 | 33,282 | 2,139 | 3,750 | 1,113 | 153 | 393 | 145,532 | 106,957 | 106,647 | 310 |
Åland Islands | 8,023 | 987 | 454 | 497 | 18 | 152 | 1,403 | 20 | 19,603 | 11,644 | 11,554 | 90 |
Candidate | Nominating party | Votes 2nd round | % |
---|---|---|---|
Tarja Halonen | Social Democratic Party | 1,630,980 | 51.8 |
Sauli Niinistö | National Coalition Party | 1,518,333 | 48.2 |
Source: Ministry of Justice |
Overall summary:
Candidate | Nominating party | First round | Second round | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | ||
Tarja Halonen | Social Democratic Party | 1,397,030 | 46.3 | 1,630,833 | 51.8 |
Sauli Niinistö | National Coalition Party | 725,866 | 24.1 | 1,517,947 | 48.2 |
Matti Vanhanen | Centre Party | 561,990 | 18.6 | ||
Heidi Hautala | Green League | 105,248 | 3.5 | ||
Timo Soini | True Finns | 103,492 | 3.4 | ||
Bjarne Kallis | Christian Democrats | 61,483 | 2.0 | ||
Henrik Lax | Swedish People's Party | 48,703 | 1.6 | ||
Arto Lahti | Independent | 12,989 | 0.4 | ||
Invalid/blank votes | 8,805 | – | 14,354 | – | |
Total | 3,025,606 | 100 | 3,163,667 | 100 | |
Source: First round Ministry of Justice, total [3] |
Province | Tarja Halonen | Sauli Niinistö | Electorate | Votes | Valid votes | Invalid votes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Southern Savonia | 47,651 | 47,329 | 129,079 | 95,496 | 94,980 | 516 |
Northern Savonia | 73,385 | 70,060 | 197,683 | 144,124 | 143,445 | 679 |
North Karelia | 49,887 | 45,744 | 132,825 | 96,117 | 95,631 | 486 |
Kainuu | 23,881 | 23,126 | 67,545 | 47,242 | 47,007 | 235 |
Uusimaa | 429,938 | 401,466 | 1,025,287 | 834,807 | 831,404 | 3,403 |
Eastern Uusimaa | 28,348 | 27,205 | 69,688 | 55,764 | 55,553 | 211 |
Southwest Finland | 149,753 | 130,990 | 355,961 | 282,047 | 280,743 | 1,304 |
Tavastia Proper | 55,577 | 46,649 | 131,359 | 102,734 | 102,226 | 508 |
Päijänne Tavastia | 63,595 | 56,272 | 156,066 | 120,343 | 119,867 | 476 |
Kymenlaakso | 60,880 | 50,666 | 146,922 | 112,085 | 111,546 | 539 |
South Karelia | 41,433 | 41,057 | 107,949 | 82,870 | 82,490 | 380 |
Central Finland | 88,668 | 70,495 | 209,443 | 159,952 | 159,163 | 789 |
Southern Ostrobothnia | 39,758 | 74,467 | 150,707 | 114,867 | 114,225 | 642 |
Ostrobothnia | 55,386 | 49,347 | 132,754 | 105,162 | 104,733 | 429 |
Satakunta | 80,985 | 63,292 | 185,999 | 144,915 | 144,277 | 638 |
Pirkanmaa | 156,183 | 130,229 | 364,658 | 287,706 | 286,412 | 1,294 |
Central Ostrobothnia | 16,952 | 23,990 | 53,660 | 41,158 | 40,942 | 216 |
Northern Ostrobothnia | 100,860 | 110,871 | 280,672 | 212,613 | 211,731 | 882 |
Lapland | 59,521 | 51,045 | 145,532 | 111,195 | 110,566 | 629 |
Åland Islands | 8,339 | 4,033 | 19,603 | 12,470 | 12,372 | 98 |
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