The survey indicates that her support level has dropped to 53 percent. This suggests that should Halonen decide to stand for re-election, she would not necessarily win outright in the first round.

According to the poll, Halonen's most likely second-round opponent would be Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Over the past half a year, his approval rating has risen by eight percentage points to 23 percent. However in a runoff between these two candidates, Halonen would likely win easily.

She continues to enjoy broad support across the board, especially among women. More than 70 percent of supporters of the Left Alliance and the Greens said they would vote for Halonen even if their parties offer their own candidates.

Vanhanen Strongest Challenger

If the incumbent decides not to run for re-election, the Social Democratic Party could lose the presidency. Without Halonen in the race, a Vanhanen bid would likely pick up 40 percent support in the first round.

The other strongest potential contender would be Sauli Niinistö, former leader of the conservative National Coalition and now Vice President of the European Investment Bank. He would attract almost one in four votes. Speaker of Parliament, former SDP chair and prime minister Paavo Lipponen would only draw eight percent support.

None of these potential candidates have so far formally thrown their hat into the ring.

Some 1,400 people were interviewed for the poll, which has a margin of error of two and a half percentage points.

The next presidential election is two years away, with the first round set for January 15, 2006. If no candidate garners more than 50 percent of the vote, there will be a runoff election on Jan. 29.