On Sunday, some 4.5 million Finns are to elect their new president from among nine candidates, six men and three women – AP News.
Polling stations across the country opened at 9am and will close at 8pm. During this time, a successor to the hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March and is not eligible for re-election, will be chosen.
No candidate is expected to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round of voting on Sunday, leading to a run-off election in February.
So far, however, two candidates are leading: former Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, 55, who represents the conservative National Coalition Party and led the Finnish government in 2014-2015; and veteran politician Pekka Haavisto, 65, a former UN diplomat running for the post for the third time, estimated to get 23-27 percent of the vote each.
Next are parliamentary speaker and former leader of the Finns party Jussi Halla-aho with 18 percent and Bank of Finland governor and former EU commissioner Olli Rehn, expected to get around 14 percent of the vote.
It should be realised that Finland’s new head of state will start his six-year term in March in a markedly different geopolitical and security situation in Europe than the incumbent Niinistö after the 2018 elections. Moreover, the difference between the Finnish president and most European countries heads is that the Finnish president has executive power in formulating foreign and security policy, especially in relations with countries outside the European Union, such as the US, Russia and China.
Preliminary voting results will be confirmed shortly after polling stations close, while the first results of Sunday’s voting are expected around midnight. The results of the first round of voting will be officially confirmed on Tuesday, with a second round between the two candidates with the highest number of votes scheduled for 11 February.
