Image: YLE
MPs assembled for a vote.
Who will Finland’s MPs vote for in the second round of the presidential election? YLE polled them to find out.
A survey was sent to all parliamentarians, excluding MPs of parties represented by the candidates.
One hundred forty of the 146 MPs polled responded to the survey. Most parliamentarians, 98, did not want to divulge their favourite candidate. Many also said they were still undecided.
YLE's poll found that support for conservative candidate Sauli Niinistö and the Green League's Pekka Haavisto was relatively even. Haavisto is the favourite among 19 MPs, Niinistö has the vote of 23.
Candidate preference clustered according to party affiliation. Niinistö’s support was the greatest among MPs of the Centre and Finns Party.
Nationalist MP Jussi Halla-aho of the Finns Party said he planned to vote for the better of what he said were "two poor alternatives."
“On many issues related to the euro, immigration and development aid, Pekka Haavisto is very far away from my own personal view and that of the Finns Party,” said Halla-aho, who is no stranger to controversy.
The Green candidate enjoys the most backing on the left of the political spectrum. That said, not a single MP of the Social Democrats or the Left Alliance has publicly come out in favour of the National Coalition Party's Sauli Niinistö.YLE
