Tarja and cats prepare for round two

By Rein F Deer

Date: 19/01/06

The bonhomie of Tarja Halonen, the popular Finnish president was visibly strained when she scored a mere 46.3% in the first round of the presidential election; 50% would have spared her the hassle of another struggle against the small but tough runner-up Sauli Niinistö.

Ms President has often approached a Soviet-style 90% popularity in (non-Soviet) opinion polls. So Sunday's result upset her, especially given the shadow of Finnish voters' unpredictability, or "sheer bloody-mindedness" as it is known by political scientists.

A genial oddball, Tarja Halonen is as unexpected a person as her predecessor Martti Ahtisaari, whose emergence from diplomacy and election in 1994 took the political elite by surprise. Six years later, Halonen, a Leftist single mother with an obvious speech defect, was elected the first ever female president of the republic. As foreign minister - she was also the first woman - she had won wide respect for her sometimes inspirational handling of Finland's EU presidency in 1999.

The position of president remains highly influential in Finland, even though the new constitution has taken away most of its executive power. After her election in 2000 Ms Halonen married an old boyfriend and they now share the peculiarly Nordic architectural monster of the official presidential residence with two now-famous cats, Miska and Rontti.

The president has remained remarkably faithful to her principles of tolerance and inclusion towards minorities, and enjoys teasing the neo-liberals who have recently started appearing up north.

Her latest coup is absolutely in character. In the US the carrot-haired TV host Conan O'Brian discovered last October that he bears an uncanny resemblance to the Finn. Within days, Halonen started political advertising on the Finnish broadcast of Late Night with Conan O'Brien. For his part, O'Brien has helped the campaign along in his shows.

Halonen's rival, ex-Finance Minister Niinistö, on 24.1% in the first round, some years ago left his position in politics as head of the Kokoomus party for a job in Luxembourg as vice-president of the European Investment Bank. A widower who last year saved himself and his two adult sons from the tsunami in Khao Lak, Thailand, his main argument is for more toughness against Russia and in the EU, and maybe giving up neutrality: he opposed the Halonen campaign to remove the landmines along the Russian border.

Comment feature on Tarja Halonen, Finish President who narrowly failed to be re-elected in the first round of the January 2006 Presidential elections.

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