Eurozone woes drive Finnish presidential campaign

Finland's presidential candidates are locking horns over the eurozone crisis as the January 22 election looks set to reflect a surge in euroscepticism in one of Europe's top-rated economies. "The dividing lines between the candidates follow the EU issue pretty closely," Helsinki University political science professor Tuomo Martikainen told AFP. The eurozone slowdown brought on by the debt crisis is expected to hit Finland's export-reliant economy hard, with growth expected to slow to just 0.4 percent in 2012 and with Finns nervous about the future although unemployment is for the moment still comparatively low at 7.3 percent. Finland's future in the eurozone and the wider EU has thus become a bone of contention as popular President Tarja Halonen prepares to leave office after her second term in office. Although the presidential post no longer holds direct sway over European Union policy, Martikainen said the issue "is pretty close to the hearts of voters and it's also easy for them to identify the views and the candidates along those lines." While former finance minister Sauli Niinistoe who is leading the polls is strongly pro-euro, a strong showing by eurosceptics could further constrain the coalition government's room for manoeuvre. The eurozone debt crisis dominated the April parliamentary elections with the europhobic Finns Party surging to become Finland's third largest party. Coalition political constraints pushed the new Finnish government to demand collateral for any new Greek aid, delaying quick adoption of a new deal. Although it has a population of only 5.3 million, Finland is one of an elite club of eurozone members to still hold a triple-A credit rating and is key to any bailout deals. Finland also joined forces with Germany and the Netherlands in October in pushing for private investors to shoulder heavy losses on Greek government bonds as part of the new bailout, a measure which critics say scared investors from other eurozone debt and further inflamed the crisis. Niinistoe, a member of the conservative and euro-friendly National Coalition party of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, is currently the favourite in the polls with 51 percent voter support. However if his support falls below 50 percent there will be a runoff to replace Halonen, who according to the country's constitution has to step down after two terms in office. A runoff would likely pit Niinistoe against one of two eurosceptics who are tied at second place at 11 percent each. One of them is Finns Party leader Timo Soini who would be happy to see Finland drop the euro. "There are many options available that are undoubtedly better than the euro," he said in a recent parliamentary debate, evoking non-euro Nordic neighbours Sweden and Denmark, as well as Britain. The other main contender, seasoned politico Paavo Vaeyrynen of the traditionally agrarian opposition Centre Party, meanwhile stressed recently that Finland "was in dangerous company." "We're the only Nordic country to have joined the euro," pointed out the long-serving parliamentarian and minister under various administrations since 1970. Ironically, the intense euro debate in this year's presidential election comes just after lawmakers culled the president's powers, taking back control of EU policy. The presidential euro debate is still worthwhile, said Ville Pernaa, head of Turku University's parliamentary research centre. "The discussion could impact Finland's role (in the EU) going forward... on the government or the attitudes of the opposition parties," he said, pointing out that the result would signal how parties should adjust their EU-related policies. If Soini gets a huge showing, for instance, "it could be a sign for the Left Alliance, which ... has had to move in a more pro-EU direction," to hit the brakes, he said. The Left Alliance is a member of the government coalition as are the Social Democratics, whose candidate former prime minister Paavo Lipponen led Finland into the EU and euro. He is trailing in fourth place. A hardening of their position on Europe could make things difficult for the government. Prime Minister Katainen has insisted membership in the EU and the euro has brought Finland peace, freedom and prosperity, stressing that outside the currency bloc Finland would have no influence on new EU and eurozone regulations affecting it. "The government's unequivocal goal is to continue to be an active influencer in the decision-making process," he said recently.