Switching portfolios, Niinistö became Finance Minister in 1996, a place he held also in Lipponen's second cabinet from 1999–2003. In both cabinets, the right wing Niinistö was deputy to social democrat Lipponen, thus enabling the use of the term rainbow government in reference to Lipponen's two consecutive cabinets. As Finance Minister Niinistö was known for his strict fiscal policy as well as his hobby of roller skating.
A charismatic figure, Niinistö was urged by his party to stand for president in the the elections of 2000, but he refused.
Niinistö announced his gradual retirement from politics in 2001, a course of action he has not completely followed to date. He was succeeded that year by Ville Itälä as party leader. Upon the end of his term as a cabinet minister in 2003, Niinistö went on to become vice-chairman of the Board of Directors at the European Investment Bank.
While a cabinet minister, Niinistö, a widower, became romantically involved with opposition MP Tanja Karpela, a former beauty queen and later Minister of Culture. Ms. Karpela's Centre Party was in opposition and Mr. Niinistö was considered the second-most influential man in government. Under close press scrutiny ever since, in 2003 Karpela and Niinistö announced their engagement, which was however called off in 2004.
In Finland, Niinistö is also remembered as one of the survivors of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. He escaped the following tsunami by climbing up a lamppost with his two sons in Khao Lak.
In 2006 Niinistö announced that he was standing again for the Finnish parliamentary election. He said, however, that he had no plans to take any high-ranking political job like the prime ministership in the future. 1 He received 60,498 personal votes in the 2007 elections2, which is a record number of votes for one candidate in a Finnish parliamentary election.
After the election Niinistö decided to take the respected position of the Speaker of the Parliament.
