Finnish presidential election, 2000

Finnish presidential election, 2000

1994 ← 6 February 2000 → 2006

Nominee Tarja Halonen Esko Aho Party Social Democrats Centre Party Popular vote 1.644.532 1.540.803 Percentage 51,6% 48,4%

President before election Martti Ahtisaari Social Democrats Elected President Tarja Halonen Social Democrats

Presidential elections were held in Finland on 16 January 2000, with a second round on 6 February. The result was a victory for Tarja Halonen of the Social Democratic Party, who became the country's first female President. During the elections Halonen was the incumbent Minister for Foreign Affairs. President Martti Ahtisaari had indicated in January 1999 that he would agree to become the Social Democratic presidential candidate for the 2000 presidential elections, but only if no presidential primary was held. However, Jacob Söderman announced his candidacy at the start of April 1999, and during that month's final week Ahtisaari announced that he would not seek the Social Democratic presidential candidacy. In his memoirs, Ahtisaari claims that Tarja Halonen badly wanted to become President, a claim that Halonen has denied. There were three other female presidential candidates in 2000: the National Coalition's Riitta Uosukainen, the Swedish People's Party's Elisabeth Rehn, and the Greens' Heidi Hautala. Halonen's popularity rose clearly during the last few months before the first round of the 2000 presidential elections. Uosukainen's and Rehn's popularity correspondingly dropped. Former Prime Minister Esko Aho, the Centrist presidential candidate, emerged as the second most popular candidate. Halonen received votes from women across party lines, and she was partly helped by her lack of any major left-wing opponent, and by her reputation as a tolerant, human rights-oriented person. The election was decided by slightly over 100,000 votes, and the voter turnout was clearly higher than in the 1996 municipal elections or in the 1999 parliamentary elections (see, for example, Tapani Ruokanen, On a Journey: Martti Ahtisaari's Story / Matkalla. Martti Ahtisaaren tarina. Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 2009, pgs. 397-411; Timo Vihavainen, "The Welfare Finland" (Hyvinvointi-Suomi), pg. 903; Hannu Lehtilä, Tarja Halonen: One of Us (Tarja Halonen - Yksi meistä), Helsinki: Otava Ltd., 2005).

Results

Candidate	Party	First round		Second round
		Votes	%	Votes	%
Tarja Halonen	Social Democratic Party	1,224,431	40.0	1,644,532	51.6
Esko Aho	Centre Party	1,051,159	34.4	1,540,803	48.4
Riitta Uosukainen	National Coalition Party	392,305	12.8
Elisabeth Rehn	Swedish People's Party	241,877	7.9
Heidi Hautala	Green League	100,740	3.3
Ilkka Hakalehto	True Finns	31,405	1.0
Risto Kuisma	Reform Group	16,943	0.6
Invalid/blank votes		9,290	–	16,378	–
Total		3,068,150	100	3,201,713	100
Source: Nohlen & Stöver