MARTTI AHTISAARI - Halonen's Predecessor
A couple of years ago in Finland, every time the subject of a successor to then President Mauno Koivisto would come up, the name of Martti Ahtisaari's would be thrown in as a joke. But as the time to elect a new president drew closer the joke paled. The Finnish people were tired of their politicians who they felt had not managed to avert a hurtful recession and a well-known international diplomat who was untainted by recent politics sounded like a viable candidate. Martti Ahtisaari was not a candidate to start with but he became one after studying the early fragmented polls. Last February he was elected President of Finland with a 53.9% majority over Elizabeth Rehn's 46.1%.
Martti Ahtisaari was born in Finnish Karelia in 1937. His grandfather was actually a Norwegian with the surname of Adolfsen who emigrated to Karelia. When Karelia was enacted by the Soviet Union after World War II, the family was evacuated and settled in Oulu where Martti graduated with a teaching diploma in1959. An avid basketball player, he got his first job abroad as a physical education teacher in a Swedish YMCA project in Pakistan. It wasn't long before the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs discovered him and offered him employment at its newly established development cooperation service, and later on as Secretary of State. It was when that Ahtisaari was Ambassador to Tanzania,that the United Nations picked him for the job of Assistant Secretary General and Namibia delegate during the periods 1977-81 and 1989-90. Ahtisaari's contribution in Namibia's achievement of independence was rewarded by a honarary citizenship in the country. He was later also appointed Chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina working committee of the UN's Yugoslavia conference.
Martti Ahtisaari is a social democrat, albeit not a very active one. It was only towards the end of the presidential campaign when his popularity began to falter that the party rallied behind its candidate.
Now Martti and wife Eeva reside in the beautiful new presidential residence. Their 25-year old son Marko is working on his doctorate at Columbia University in New York where he also plays base guitar in his own rock band.
Martti Ahtisaari has not been satisfied with the ceremonial presidential role he took over. He has been actively seeking more power for his office. He has established his own working group in a quest to reduce unemployment and he has donated the first installments of his recently increased presidential salary to the same cause.