© Reuters. Finnish presidential candidate and former International Minister Pekka Haavisto talks to members of the media earlier than DJ-ing in Helsinki, Finland, December 8, 2023. REUTERS/Attila Cser
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By Anne Kauranen and Attila Cser
HELSINKI (Reuters) – As Finland’s international minister for the previous 4 years, Pekka Haavisto helped overturn a long time of neutrality to convey Finns into NATO. Now, as ‘DJ Pexi’, he’s spinning data to get them onto the dancefloor – and win an election to be president.
On Friday evening in a classy Helsinki neighbourhood, Haavisto drew some 200 college students to a membership. The 65-year-old centre-left Liberal Inexperienced frontrunner acquired the younger crowd up on its ft with an unapologetically old style playlist, largely of hits from his personal era, just like the Beatles jaded political anthem “Revolution”.
“Well, this is an opportunity for me, of course, to meet young people, and for some reason my DJ performance has become now quite popular, particularly among the students,” Haavisto informed Reuters. “It’s a nice feeling when you see the audience waving and moving there according to your favourite music, which comes from the 60s or from the 70s.”
Haavisto, who stepped down as international minister in June, is hoping to succeed Sauli Niinisto, a conservative stalwart in workplace for greater than a decade, in an election on Jan 28.
Finland’s president supervises international and safety coverage, together with the brand new function of representing the nation at conferences of NATO, the Western army alliance it joined in April in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Haavisto, who was runner-up to Niinisto in 2018 and 2012, is now the frontrunner in most polls, though one ballot final month had him trailing conservative former prime minister Alexander Stubb.
Although Finland’s left was traditionally extra cautious of NATO than the conservatives, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has largely swept such scepticism apart. Haavisto stated that as president “my Finland would be an active member of NATO”.
To win, he wants younger voters. These at Friday’s dance occasion appeared pleased.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of negative to say about him. I think everybody has only positive things to say,” stated one of many organisers, who gave his identify as Henry.
If elected, Haavisto would grow to be Finland’s first brazenly homosexual president. His Ecuadorian associate Antonio Flores, 45, whom he met at a Colombian disco within the Nineteen Nineties when travelling in South America, isn’t any fan of his quaint playlist.
“I couldn’t play this music at home. There is only one song that he accepts, it’s a Latin merengue music song, but otherwise he hates this music,” Haavisto stated.
