In the luxurious Westend residential area, west of Helsinki, people eagerly await election night. Here, 65 percent voted for Alexander Stubb in the first round. Stubb himself moved here in 2009, after four years as an EU parliamentarian.
– Alexander Stubb will be a good president because he wants to establish closer ties with the United States. It is important in the next six years, says Marko Ikävalko, who just a few days earlier sat in the audience during a live debate between the presidential candidates Pekka Haavisto and Alexander Stubb.
Ikävalko shows a selfie he took with his presidential candidate.
– It is easy to identify with him, he says.
Marko Ikävalko tog en selfie with presidential candidate Alexander Stubb. Photo: Philip Teir
Westend is a district in the greater municipality of Espoo, which is part of the capital region with Helsinki.
During the winter it has been said that the linguist and constantly sporting Alexander Stubb may be difficult for some Finns to identify with, but in Westend this is not a problem. Here, many have seen Stubb in jogging shorts or lycra when he was on his well-known running and cycling trips. In winter, you can see him on the ski track.
– I usually see him in the shop sometimes. He always greets cheerfully. He is energetic and smiles widely. Many people in Westend are partisans, says Susanna Line, who has already voted in advance for Stubb.
The Samlingspartiet is the bourgeois party that is currently in power in Finland and can be compared to the Swedish Moderates. Westend is strongly bourgeois, as is the entire municipality of Espoo.
Mervi Ryynänen är på väg to a tennis match. She says that Stubb has an accommodating style. She also usually meets him and his wife Suzanne Innes-Stubb in the shop.
– The president’s job is to manage our foreign policy and to be the face of Finland. Stubb is diplomatic and knowledgeable, she says.
Mervi Ryynänen i Westend, ett välbärgat omrede väster om Helsingfors där många röstar på Alexander Stubb. Photo: Philip Teir
But not everyone in Westend is a Stubban fan. Standing at an outdoor gym is Kari, who for DN only wants to give her first name.
– I’m not voting for Stubb. I get depressed when I see what this government and his party are up to. Welfare is cut and immigration is tightened. It’s the wrong way to go.
Finland gets a new president in a rare troubled time, with a war in the country’s immediate vicinity. The new president may be forced to take a stand on unexpected attacks from Russia. It could be about intensified hybrid warfare, as in 2023, when Russia sent busloads of asylum seekers to Finland’s border.
The latest poll from Yle, on Thursday, shows that Stubb would get 54 percent of the vote and Haavisto 46 percent. At the same time, many are wondering how the voters of the True Finns, who gave the candidate Jussi Halla-aho 19 percent in the first round, will vote.
Both Stubb and Pekka Haavisto can be seen as liberal candidates. Haavisto is to the left of Stubb, and with its background in the environmental party De Gröna, has a different profile, with an emphasis on climate issues and human rights. The fact that Haavisto is gay may make conservative voters prefer Stubb.
– Jag tror att Halla-ahos röster säller går till Stubb än Haavisto, Säger Mervi Ryynänen.
Swedish Yle published last week a citizen barometer from the University of Helsinki, with 1,300 people in the panel. Among other things, it showed that many voters see Pekka Haavisto as more empathetic than Alexander Stubb. But also that a third of the voters believe that Haavisto’s male partner is a reason not to vote for him, writes TT.
Pekka Haavisto with his partner Antonio Flores at the campaign in Vantaa. Photo: Vesa Moilanen/TT
– It was a little surprising in that way that I have been a candidate a couple of times before and then it didn’t matter. But right now when I’m in the second round, it came quite strong, says Pekka Haavisto to SVT Nyheter.
The new president will not live in the president’s normal official residence, Talludden, for the first few years, as it will be renovated for two years. Instead, he will live temporarily in the district of Munksnäs in Helsinki.
Facts. President’s duties
The President of Finland is the country’s commander-in-chief. Since the country joined NATO, the president will be a central representative for Finland in NATO matters.
The president’s duties also include important foreign policy alignments, which are made together with the government. The president, on the other hand, does not deal with EU affairs.
The president deals with diplomacy at the international level and appoints the heads of the country’s embassies and consulates.
The presidency also includes representation within the country. The president regularly visits various regions in Finland.
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