Papin Puntari, 7th of January 2000
Mr. President. Mauno Koivisto, Finland
The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. You shouldn’t just wait what a new year or a new millennium has to offer. A better idea is to think what you can do yourself, how to make things happen instead of just waiting idly. What we need are active people.
A Finnish author Veijo Meri calls out for a ”mental strike force” for Finland. Where could we find people to act as pathfinders for our country? We need people who can come up with new ideas and make them happen. Finland has been more and more deeply integrated with the rest of the Europe. It has become a part of it. Finland is ever improving its appearances. Veijo Meri interprets the feelings of our people by proposing a toast for the new European way of life.
The first presidential election I can recall were held exactly 50 years ago. On my sixth birthday, 15th of January 1950, the campaign. The current president, Juho Kusti Paasikivi who was running for a second term, was upset about Urho Kekkonen’s (another candidate, later a president) wide ranging campaign tour. He was especially upset about his skills as a speaker. He observed the popularity Kekkonen enjoyed during his ”U.S. style” campaign and remarked bitterly that ”there’s no need for a president to be a good speaker”.
I have learned one curious thing from Kekkonen. On an occasion he boasted that he never had turned down anyone asking him to give a speech. I’ve hold on to this principle and tried to answer yes whenever asked. There are naturally times when you just can’t make it, but when my schedule permits, I comply happily.
The 1950 presidential elections were the beginning of Kekkonen’s glory days. Even though Paasikivi won the elections clearly, the publicity gained through the campaigning made him a household name in politics. Paasikivi represented the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and the Swedish People’s Party (Ruotsalainen kansanpuolue) and got 107 from their combined electors, but he also got the support of 64 electors of the Social Democrat Party, for a total of 171 electors out of 300, which was enough to get him elected as the president. Paasikivi turned eighty the year he was elected. Fifty years old Kekkonen on the other hand become very popular with the common people thanks to his tours and skills as a speaker. Television as we know it didn’t exist in those days.
Frigid winds of the Cold War were blowing over Finland during those days. The Soviets used political pressure and issued demands for Finland, but fortunately Paasikivi didn’t throw in the towel. If Finns had grovelled then it would have been only for the worse. His back straight Paasikivi made rugged speeches and never bent. Good speech making and language skills are not all you need to be a good president, the position asks also for stubbornness when needed. The new graceful and subtle European Union politics also force you to use eyes and ears. All that glitters is not gold and every offer is not as good as it sounds. But this is not something we need to tell our presidential candidates anymore, they know it by heart already.
On the Twelfth Day I heard a story of a little boy who worried about if his father really loved him. The busy father reserved one day every week for the son. The boy knew to expect this day as a certainty. It felt secure to know the father was there and felt love for the son. But once the father received an important guest on that very day and couldn’t be with his son. Disappointed, the son reacted by throwing coffee cups about and tearing curtains from the windows. From his father to boy demanded with tears why he didn’t love his son anymore.
The father certainly loved his son still, even met the guest at home, but his son still felt neglected. Being there just in body is not enough. You must set aside time to show interest and care intensively. This is what we need. We need each other globally also, we miss the real presence of one another. You need speaking skills and stubbornness too. But what we need most is a warm hug.