Alexander Stubb won the election in Finland
After a close presidential race, former Finnish Prime Minister, Alexander Stubb, won Sunday's election runoff against former Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, Euronews reports.
With all votes counted, centre-right candidate Alexander Stubb of the National Coalition Party had 51.6% of the votes, while independent candidate Pekka Haavisto from the green left got 48.4%.
The 55-year-old, who was prime minister from 2014 to 2015 will become the 13th president of Finland since the Nordic country’s independence from the Russian empire in 1917.
Stubb and Haavisto were the main contenders in the election where over 4 million eligible voters picked a successor to hugely popular President Sauli Niinistö, whose second six-year term expires in March. He wasn’t eligible for reelection.
Sunday’s runoff comes after none of the original nine candidates got more than half of the votes in the first voting round on the 28th of January. At that time, Stubb emerged at the top with 27.3% of the ballots, with Haavisto as runner-up with 25.8%.
Several polls indicated Stubb, who has also served as Finland's foreign, finance and European affairs minister, was the favourite to win the presidency.
