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Updated Monday, February 6, 2012 0:00 am TWN, By Matti Huuhtanen, AP



	Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen casts his vote at a local school in Espoo, Finland, Sunday Feb. 5. Voters went to the polls Sunday in the decisive round to vote for either Green Party presidential candidate, Pekka Haavisto, or National Coalition party candidate Sauli Niinisto as the successor to President Tarja Halonen. (AP) More Photos (2)

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Finland goes to the polls in presidential runoff

HELSINKI -- Finnish voters were being asked Sunday to choose the country's leader in a runoff between a veteran, conservative and the first openly gay candidate from the small Greens party, seen by many as too radical for the Nordic country.

Ex-Finance Minister Sauli Niinisto continued to lead surveys by a wide margin over former Environment Minister Pekka Haavisto as polling stations opened nationwide in this winter's record cold temperatures.

The 63-year-old Niinisto, who was finance minister when Finland adopted the euro in 2002, is popular among older voters and for many represents continuity.

“He's the best. Stable and steady, and will represent Finland in an exemplary manner,” said Matti Oksanen, a retired engineer, before casting his ballot in a snowy suburb of Helsinki where the temperature plummeted to minus-15 Fahrenheit (minus-26 Celsius). “We are not ready yet for the more radical candidate.”

Haavisto, a soft-spoken trailblazer of Finland's environmental movement, became Europe's first government minister from a Green party when he was given the environment portfolio in 1995. He draws support from a core of young, liberal, urban voters.

“I voted for Haavisto but it was a difficult choice. The men are very similar but Haavisto is more open and more forward-looking,” said Vesa Lehtinen, 39, who works for a computer company. “Let's hope Finland is prepared to have him as leader of the country.”

The Finnish president has a largely ceremonial role with fewer powers now than in previous decades, and is not directly involved in daily politics. However, the head of state takes the lead on non-EU matters of foreign policy, is seen as an important shaper of public opinion and plays a role as a “brand ambassador” of Finland overseas.

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