Finland holds final round of presidential election

Finns head to the polls Sunday to elect a president in the second round of an election that has seen conservative Sauli Niinistoe enjoying a wide lead over green liberal challenger Pekka Haavisto in pre-election surveys. Niinistoe's experience as finance minister has lent his candidacy credibility amid the European debt crisis while 53 year old Haavisto's openly gay stance has lost him support among older and more traditional Finns, according to analysts. The most recent public opinion poll, published Thursday, gave the National Coalition Party's Niinistoe 62 percent support against 38 percent for the Green League's Haavisto. In the first round of voting on January 22, which featured eight candidates, Niinistoe garnered 37 percent of votes and Haavisto 18.8 percent.. The 63-year-old Niinistoe, who survived the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand by climbing a tree, has consistently trounced his challenger in the opinion polls. This is largely due to his long tenure as finance minister from 1996-2003 when he helped usher Finland into the eurozone. This factor was particularly evident in the first round campaign when the euro crisis was cited as the main concern for voters. Both candidates are strongly pro-Europe and agree on most aspects of foreign policy -- one of few areas the president still decides -- with pundits noting that the real fireworks died when the virulently anti-euro candidates were eliminated after the first round of voting. Some 36.5 percent of an eligible 4.4 million voters have already cast their ballots in advance voting before polling stations open at 9:00 am (0700 GMT). Voting will finish at 8.00 pm (1800 GMT) and final results are expected around 2000 GMT on Sunday. Analysts were optimistic that voters would turn out despite a wave of Arctic cold sweeping in from Siberia bringing temperatures in Finland plunging as far as minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) over the weekend. Voter turnout in the first round was 72.8 percent compared to 73.9 percent six years ago. Finland's popular outgoing President Tarja Halonen is stepping down after serving a maximum of two consecutive terms, ending a thirty-year spell of Social Democratic presidents in the small Nordic country.