publication date: Jan 24, 2012
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author/source: Peter Lloyd/Pinkpaper.com
A gay politician representing Finland's Green League is campaigning to become the country's first out President.
Pekka Haavisto, pictured, lives in a civil partnership with Antonio Flores and is the first openly-gay candidate to run for head of state in the Nordic country, according to the Associated Press.
On Sunday, Haavisto was elected the Green League's candidate for Finland's Presidency.
In the first round of the election, he came second with 18.8 percent of the votes, securing him a place in the second round which takes place on 5 February.
There, he will compete against former Finance Minister and National Coalition Party representative, Sauli Niinisto, who drew almost 40 per cent of the votes in yesterday's ballot.
However, although Haavisto's success to-date is impressive, political analysts believe he will go no further - this time.
Olavi Borg told AP that Haavisto has little chance of beating Niinisto in a runoff. "Niinisto's popularity will be even clearer in the second round. Middle-aged and older people especially will not vote for Haavisto," Borg said.
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