Oulu Votes Narrowly for Niinistö
Finland has a new head of state. Kokoomus’ Sauli Niinistö is the republic’s 12th president.
He took 62.6 percent of the vote to Green candidate Pekka Haavisto’s 37.4.
photo: Wikipedia
In the Oulu region, voters were even more enthusiastic about Niinistö, giving him 65 percent of the vote to Haavisto’s 35 percent. But in the city of Oulu, voters were less enamoured by the pro-EU and pro-business winner. He took just 57.5 percent in the city.
However, many of the smaller municipalities in the region, who had voted substantially for the Centre Party’s Paavo Väyrynen in the first round, followed the national trend in giving Niinistö just under two thirds of the vote.
The closest regional result was in Helsinki, where Niinistö won by a whisker, garnering 50.2 percent of the votes cast. In Åland, Haavisto actually won, with 60 percent of the poll. Niinistö took the other 14 parliament electoral areas.
Niinistö’s best area result was in Vaasa, south of Oulu, where he took 72.3 percent. In many of the area’s municipalities over 80 percent voted for Niinistö. The area is often characterised as religiously conservative, with the Christian Democrats’ Sari Essayah doing relatively well there in the first round.
With only 69 percent voting, it was the lowest turnout at such an election since 1950.
Niinistö will take over as president on 1st March.
