HELSINKI (AP) – Former Prime Minister Alexander Stubbe is expected to defeat former Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto in the run-off of Finland’s presidential election on Sunday.
Finnish public broadcaster YLE predicted that center-right candidate Stubbe from the conservative National Union party would win the Finnish president with 51.4% of the vote, while green-left independent candidate Haavisto would win 48.6%.
The YLE forecast, which has been highly accurate in past elections, is a mathematical model calculated based on advance voting and a certain number of Sunday votes, based on official data provided by the Legal Registration Center. Exit polls are not commonly used in Finland.
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The predicted result would make Stubbe, who served as prime minister from 2014 to 2015 and held several other cabinet posts, become Finland’s 13th president since the Nordic country gained independence in 1917.
Mr. Stubbe, 55, and Mr. Haavisto, 65, are seeking to succeed President Sauli Niinisto, who is hugely popular with more than 4 million voters, whose second six-year term expires in March. He was the main candidate in the election. He was not eligible for re-election.
Sunday’s runoff election was necessary because none of the original nine candidates received more than a majority of votes in the first round on January 28, with Stubb receiving 27.3% of the vote. This came first with 25.8%, and Mr. Harvist was the runner-up with 25.8%.
