Finland’s President to seek second presidential term as independent candidate

Yesterday, Finlands President Sauli Niinistö, announced his plans to establish a constituency association to seek re-election as the President of the Republic of Finland.

This is reported by the Helsinki Times.

“The President has become more and more detached from party politics. How would it feel if a presidential candidate was backed by a constituency association?” he stated at a press conference held at his official residence in Helsinki.

A constituency association is a means for candidates not affiliated with any political parties to stand in public elections. An association for nominating a candidate for the presidential elections must be established by a minimum of 20.000 citizens entitled to vote, the Finnish newspaper reports.

“I’m somewhat intrigued to find out how widely Finns would really support me. I’ve decided to set up a constituency association to look into the situation,” said Niinistö.

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The decision should not be interpreted at him turning him his back on the National Coalition Party, Niinistö stressed. Shortly after the press conference Petteri Orpo, chairperson of the party, announced that Niinistö has the full support of the National Coalition.

Finland’s presidential elections will be held in early 2018, with the first round of voting scheduled to take place on 28 January and the possible second round on 11 February.

In March, Niinisto was amongst the partcipants at the international conference Arctic - territory of dialogue in Arkhangelsk, where he debated cooperation and opportunities in the Arctic with Russian president Vladimir Putin and their Icelandic colleague, President Gudni Johannesson.