Tarja Halonen

Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born December 24, 1943) is a Finnish lawyer and politician. She has been the President of Finland since February 6, 2000.

The way to presidency

When President Martti Ahtisaari announced that he would not run for a second term in office in 2000, the Social Democrats began to look for a new candidate. The party concluded that a woman candidate would be the best method to win the election. In the previous elections Elisabeth Rehn came very close to victory. Halonen, who then was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, was significantly more popular than Paavo Lipponen, the party chairman.

Related Topics:
Martti Ahtisaari - Elisabeth Rehn - Paavo Lipponen

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At first Halonen was, however, only on the fourth place in the polls. This was partly due to the fact that Halonen spent much time abroad as Minister for Foreign Affairs. This, however, also meant that she got a lot of visibility in the media. Backed by an enthusiastic and experienced campaign organisation, her popularity grew steadily. Her successful handling of the Finnish presidency of the European Union in the autumn of 1999 was also fresh in people's memory.

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In the first round of the elections, Halonen got the most votes but failed to gain the 50% needed to win directly. In the second round, she narrowly defeated her opponent, the former Prime Minister Esko Aho of the Centre Party, becoming Finland's first female President.

Related Topics:
Prime Minister - Esko Aho - Centre Party

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