Narrow re-election for Finnish president

HELSINKI - Finland's President Tarja Halonen narrowly won re-election on Sunday as voters rewarded her down-to-earth touch and promises to preserve the welfare state.

Left-leaning Halonen, the Nordic country's first woman president, won a slight victory over moderate rightist challenger Sauli Niinisto, who kissed her hand and conceded defeat.

"The best thing was that there was a huge amount of people involved, supporting Sauli Niinisto and supporting me," Halonen told Finnish broadcaster MTV3.

Official results showed she won 51.8 per cent of the vote with nearly all ballots counted.

"Politics has made a comeback," said Halonen, who was backed by the Social Democratic Party and leftist and labour groups for a second and final six-year term.

Social Democrats have held the presidency since 1982 in Finland, which was the first country to grant women the right to stand for political office a century ago.

Niinisto, a former finance minister who will go back to his job as a vice president of the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg, wished Halonen well.

"Finnish democracy is, maybe beside Tarja Halonen, the biggest winner," said 57-year-old Niinisto.

Red-haired Halonen, a 62-year-old former labour lawyer, campaigned on a platform of equality and promoting the welfare state, under the slogan "the president for all the people".

A single parent when she was elected in 2000, she retains her motherly image among many voters, despite flashes of impatience and quick temper in television debates.

Most of the president's powers were cut when she took office, although the head of state still decides foreign policy in cooperation with the government and is commander-in-chief of the defence force.

Relations with the European Union, which Finland joined in 1995, are largely handled by the prime minister.

Niinisto argued in favour of economic and social reforms to create jobs and ensure continued prosperity in a country with Europe's most rapidly ageing population.

Despite being from the conservative opposition, he won backing from many supporters of the Centre Party, which leads the ruling coalition.

His strong showing is seen as positive for the prospects of his National Coalition Party in parliamentary polls next year.

"This certainly gives more confidence and more impetus to the conservatives for the real elections, which take place next year," said Tuomo Martikainen, a professor of political science from Helsinki University.

"The left-right dimension in this presidential election was very obvious, and this will very likely strengthen the collaboration of the (National Coalition and Centre Party)."

Halonen's presidency has coincided with a good period for the economy.

Home to giant mobile phone maker Nokia, it ranks among the most competitive since recovering from a deep slump after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a major trading partner.

- REUTERS