Soini received 9.4 percent of the vote in the first round. Soini and his party have been harshly criticised for members’ coarse comments about minorities of all kinds, so his position towards openly gay Haavisto came as a surprise to some observers.

Soini told YLE’s Swedish-language news service on Sunday evening that he would not endorse any candidate, but he could himself consider voting for Haavisto.

On the other hand, Soini told YLE TV’s breakfast television that he would not say who he will vote for in the second round. He did, however, speak in positive tones about Haavisto.

He later wrote on his blog that his words had been interpreted wrongly, and he could not be counted in either candidate’s camp. He will not reveal who received his vote until the polls close in the second round of voting.

Low support for Soini

Soini’s own poor showing, compared to his support at the parliamentary election, was not necessarily a verdict on his party and their values.

“Timo Soini’s campaign didn’t have the same energy and motivation as the Finns’ party did in the parliamentary election,” said YLE election pundit Ville Pernaa. “At the same time his supporters were never sure whether they wanted Soini to be president or to continue as the party chair.”

Pernaa cautioned against seeing the first round results as a defeat for the Finns’ party. He said the true test of that will come in the first party support barometer poll after the election.