Finland The Presidential Election of 1982 and Koivisto's Presidency
Mauno Koivisto, elected president of Finland in 1982 and reelected for a second six-year term in 1988
Courtesy Embassy of Finland, Washington
A major change occurred in Finnish domestic politics in
January 1982, when the social democratic politician, Mauno
Koivisto, was elected president. He was the first member
of the
SDP to be elevated to the country's highest post, and his
election meant the full integration of social democrats
into
Finnish public life and an end to the postwar dominance of
Kesk.
Koivisto had been a leading public figure since the
late
1960s, when he had served as prime minister for two years.
During
the 1970s, as governor of the Bank of Finland and, for a
short
time, as minister of finance, he had won the public's
respect for
the accuracy of his economic forecasts. His personality
and
considerable media astuteness also won him a very
considerable
personal popularity across party lines. Born in 1923 in
Turku,
the son of a carpenter, he fought bravely during World War
II.
After the war he returned to his native city, and through
years
of part-time study, earned a doctorate in sociology in
1956. He
was active within the moderate wing of the SDP, yet did
not seek
an elective office. He began his banking career by
directing a
large employees' savings bank in Helsinki.
Summoned again in 1979 to serve as prime minister,
Koivisto
retained the public's esteem and became a strong potential
candidate for the presidential election scheduled for
1984. Seen
by Kesk politicians as a threat to their party's hold on
the
presidency after Kekkonen's inevitable retirement,
Koivisto was
pressured to resign in the spring of 1981. He refused,
telling
Kekkonen that he would continue as prime minister until a
lack of
parliamentary support for his government was shown.
Koivisto's
survival despite Kekkonen's challenge was seen by some
observers
as the end of an era in which the president had dominated
Finnish
public life.
In the fall of 1981, failing health forced Kekkohen to
resign
the presidency, and Koivisto assumed the duties of the
office
until the presidential election set for January 1982, two
years
ahead of schedule. He won handily, taking 43 percent of
the
votes--from the high turnout of 87 percent--and 145 of the
electors. With the support of some electors pledged to the
SKDL
candidate, he won, with 167 ballots, in the first vote of
the
electoral college. His popularity remained high during his
first
term, and he easily won reelection in 1988.
In his years in office, Koivisto has adhered to the
Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line, renewing in 1983 the FCMA treaty,
for
example. In addition, he has supported the traditional
policy of
neutrality, has spoken often of the danger of the arms
race, and
has encouraged international trade. One innovation he
introduced
was allowing greater policy roles to the Ministry of
Foreign
Affairs, the Eduskunta's Foreign Affairs Committee, and
other
institutions concerned with foreign policy.
On the domestic front, he has been more restrained than
his
predecessor. He has preferred to let day-to-day politics
run its
course, and he has tended to see the presidency as an
office from
which he could direct the nation's attention to long-term
goals.
At times, however, delphic presidential statements have
confused
the public about his intentions. On occasion, too, he has
been
harsh, berating the press for its irresponsible coverage
of
foreign policy issues, or striking down politicians he
thought
too meddlesome in international affairs. Overall,
Koivisto's
presidency has marked a coming of age for the Finnish
polity, an
emergence from the harsh tutelage of the Kekkonen years,
and the
increasing resemblance of Finnish political life to that
of other
successful Western democracies.
Data as of December 1988
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