I talk about Finland's system of government from executive to legislative and how elections work in the country.

1. Post author By Charlie August 27, 2020
The Government System of Finland
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-finland/
Finland is a Nordic country located in
Northern Europe and is bordered with
Sweden, Norway and Russia and has a
coast along the Gulf of Bothnia and
Baltic Sea facing Sweden and the Gulf
of Finland facing Estonia. The
country’s capital Helsinki is located
along the coast of the Gulf of Finland.
Finland has numerous little islands
that surrounds its mainland,
including the Åland Islands which are
autonomous.
The area that is Finland has been
inhabited since at least 9000 BC, the
Comb Ceramic culture and Corded
Ware culture peoples existed in parts
of modern-day Finland during very
early times and introduced things
such as pottery and agriculture.
During early times three main areas
of modern-day Finland include the
southwest and also Tavastia and
Karelia. Finland soon started
becoming an integral part of Sweden
as they colonised coastal areas of the
land during the Northern Crusades.
In March 1809 the Finnish War led to
Finland being annexed into the
Russian Empire from Swedish rule
and was made an autonomous Grand
Duchy. In 1906 Finland became the
first European state to grant all adult
citizens the right to vote and also to
run for public office. After the 1917 Russian Revolution Finland declared its total
independence from the Russian Empire which led to the Finnish Civil War which
included Bolshevik-leaning Red Guards which had support from the Russian Soviet
Federative Socialist Republic against the White Guards which had support from the
German Empire.
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2. After the victory of the White Guards there was an attempt to establish a Finnish
Monarchy with Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse chosen to be the first King but he
never took the throne due to the outcome of the 1 World War and the victories for
republicans in the 1919 elections in Finland led to Finland becoming a republic
instead.
During World War 2 the Soviet Union invaded Finland starting the Winter War and
then later the Continuation War when Nazi Germany joined with Finnish forces to fight
against the Soviets, but the fighting came to a stalemate leading to Finland signing an
armistice with the Soviets, which included terms to disarm and remove Nazi forces from
Finland, leading to the Lapland War. The outcome was that Finland still lost some of its
territory to the Soviets but maintained independence.
During the Cold War Finland maintained its independence by signing the Finno-Soviet
Treaty of 1948 that prevented Finnish land being used for an invasion of the Soviet
Union but outside of that it allowed Finland to remain neutral during the Cold War.
After the 2 World War and into the 1950s Finland begun to transition from an
agrarian country into an industrialized one and begun developing an advanced
economy. Finland is now part of the European Union and the NATO Partnership for
Peace program.
The official languages of Finland are Finnish and Swedish and
another recognised language is Sami. The largest religion in Finland is Christianity with
Lutheranism being the largest denomination. The country’s currency is the Euro and
the country’s population is over 5,541,900 people.
Government Type
st
nd
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3. Finland Coat of Arms.
Finland is a Parliamentary Representative Democracy with an elected President who is
Head of State and an appointed Prime Minister who is Head of Government. The
unicameral Parliament of Finland makes up the legislative government. Multiple parties
are allowed.
The Executive Government
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4. Presidential Palace, one of three official residences of the President. Photo by Ranerana from
Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.
The President is the Head of State and represents the country abroad in its foreign
affairs and also has a number of limited executive powers that are often used via
motions provided to the President by the Government which if not acted on by the
President are returned to Government who may choose to introduce the motion to
Parliament instead and adopt their position. Like any Head of State, it is also meant to
be their job to guarantor the constitution. The President does have some powers that
does not require a motion from Government.
Presidential Incapacity
If the President is incapacitated or cannot carry out duties for any other reason, then the
Prime Minister will become Acting President for that period unless the Prime Minister
is also incapacitated where instead a Minister who is the Deputy Prime Minister will
become Acting President for that period of time.
Duties and Powers
The President on advice of the Prime Minister and then after having enquired with
parliamentary groups may then order extraordinary parliamentary elections to be held,
that is early parliamentary elections, most the time this sort of measure will be taken if
there is a severe government or political crisis ongoing that is unable to be resolved
under the current composition of parliament and government.
The President convenes and closes sessions of the parliament.
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5. The President appoints the Government and Ministers on advice of the Prime Minister.
Removes Ministers on advice of the Prime Minister. Grants resignations of Ministers,
Prime Minister or members of Government. Dismisses Minister/s or Prime Minister
and Government on the event of loss of parliamentary confidence.
The President has the power of pardon although some may require a plenary
government meeting decision and always requires a report from the Supreme Court.
General amnesty requires an Act of parliament.
The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces and makes
decisions relating to military orders, such as military appointments, in conjunction with
the appropriate government Minister.
The Chancellor of Justice and a deputy is appointed by the President and acts as a
member of Government as its top law advisor.
The President confirms legislation passed by the Parliament but may choose to not
confirm it, if this happens then the legislation returns to parliament and if it is re-
adopted without any material alterations it becomes automatically confirmed. A special
majority is not required to confirm an act that the President has not confirmed.
The President appoints tenured Judges in accordance with procedure laid down in an
Act. Appointments of other judges are also laid down in an Act. There is a High Court of
Impeachment that deals with charges brought against public officials such as against
members of Government, the Chancellor of Justice, the Parliamentary Ombudsman and
also the President etc.
High Court of Impeachment Judges are the Presidents of the Supreme Court and the
Supreme Administrative Court, three most senior-ranking Presidents of the Court of
Appeals and five members elected by parliament for a 4-year term.
Presidential Removal
The Chancellor of Justice, Ombudsman or the Government can deem that the President
of the Republic is guilty of treason or high treason or a crime against humanity,
parliament is notified of the accusations. The Parliament will then vote by a three-
fourths majority whether to bring the charges forwards, if they do then the Prosecutor-
General will prosecute the President in the High Court of Impeachment and during
proceedings the President is suspended from office, if convicted they are removed from
office.
The Government and Prime Minister
Government is made up of the Prime Minister who is Head of the Government and the
necessary number of Ministers. Ministers must be Finnish citizens known to be honest
and competent and they can be either a Representative from Parliament or someone
from outside Parliament. Ministers and members of Government cannot hold any other
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6. public offices and cannot hold positions that compromise their duties or present a
conflict of interest, if they are elected President or as a Speaker of Parliament then they
are considered to have resigned the office of Minister.
The Government, Prime Minister and Ministers are responsible to the Parliament and
must keep their confidence to remain in power. Upon the formation of Government, a
statement on the programme of government is submitted to parliament, this action may
happen again if the composition of Government is essentially altered.
The Government submits annual reports to the Parliament to do with governmental
activities, measures undertaken in response to parliamentary decisions, and also
reports of state finances and adherence to the budget.
The Prime Minister directs the actions and activities of the Government and oversees
preparation and consideration of matters that come within mandate of the
Government. The Prime Minister chairs plenary meetings of the Government. The
Prime Minister also represents Finland on the EU’s European Council unless
exceptionally decided otherwise by Government.
When the Prime Minister cannot attend duties then the Minister designated as Deputy
Prime Minister will take over the duty and if they cannot then the next senior ranking
Minister will and so on.
Matters within the authority of Government are decided on at plenary meetings of
Government or at a Ministry to which the matter belongs. There may be Committees of
Ministers for the preparation of matters.
As is usual Ministers run a Ministry and deal with matters under its competence and to
prepare matters to be considered by Government in plenary. Ministries and the
Government implement legislation passed by the parliament.
The Prime Minister and Ministers meet in plenary to decide on governing policy. It also
decides on motions and the state budget to introduce to Parliament.
Emergency Provisions
Emergency provisions exist for exceptions to rights and guarantees in grave situations
such as an armed attack against Finland or another kind of grave emergency, such
emergency provisions are introduced via an Act or by Government Decree with
parliamentary oversight who can also decide of the validity of such decrees.
The Legislative Government
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7. Parliament House, meeting place of the Parliament of Finland. Photo by Alvesgaspar from
Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source.
Composition and Main Jobs
The Parliament of Finland is a unicameral chamber that makes up Finland’s legislative
government and it has a set 200 members that are elected by the people in
parliamentary elections. The Parliament’s main job is to have legislation introduced to it
and for it to be debated on and either amended, passed or rejected. Legislative
proposals and motions can be introduced by Government and representatives of
parliament.
Parliament also has the job of oversight of executive administrations/governments and
Parliament keeps the administration or government in power while its members
maintain a majority confidence within the government/administration.
After parliamentary elections the members elect a Speaker and two Deputy Speakers
from among themselves, the winner requires at-least one-half of votes unless there is no
winner by a third round which then it shall be conducted by simple majority instead. As
always it is the job of the Speaker to conduct agenda of parliament, represent the
parliament in a multi-partisan manner and also maintain orderly conduct and make
sure bylaws of parliament are followed by its members.
There is Speaker’s Council which includes the Speaker, two Deputy Speakers and the
chairpersons of the parliamentary committees. It is the job of this council to issue
instructions on the organisation of parliamentary work and decide on parliamentary
procedures. The Council can also put forth initiatives for enactment or amendment of
Acts that govern parliamentary officials or the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament.
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8. Parliament also elects its committees at the beginning of its new term (unless provided
otherwise), with them reflecting the current composition of parliament as best as
possible. Such committees include the Grand Committee which has 25-members; the
Constitutional Law Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee, the Finance Committee,
and the Audit Committee which have at least 17-members and then the rest of the
Standing Committees which have at least 11-members.
Committees ad hoc are also appointed by parliament for preparation, or inquiry, into a
given matter.
Committees are elected by proportional vote unless a rule of procedure or an Act allows
it via consensus.
The Speaker’s Council can propose to reappoint a parliamentary committee which will
happen if parliamentary members agree.
Finally, Parliament appoints an ombudsman including two deputies.
The committees and other parliamentary organs have the right to receive information
pertaining to its competence from the Government. It is the job of the appropriate
Ministers to provide such requested information without delay.
Representatives themselves have a right to Government information pertaining to the
performance of their work and duties in parliament and of which is not secret or
pertains to the State Budget proposal under preparation.
Other Duties
A group of at least 20 representatives may address an interpellation to the Government
or an individual Minister, within 15-days of it coming to the attention of the
Government a plenary session of Parliament will decide a response and Parliament may
hold a vote of Confidence on the matter, which can lead to the removal of the Minister
or the resignation of the Prime Minister and Government.
The Government itself can trigger a Confidence vote in itself or a Minister by a
presentation of a statement to the parliament relating to the governance of the country
or international relations, which could lead to members tabling a motion of Confidence.
An Act of Parliament is made to organise a consultative referendum.
At least 50,000 Finnish citizens that are entitled to vote have the right to submit an
initiative for the enactment of an Act to the Parliament.
Alteration of national borders requires the consent of Parliament.
The Electoral System
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9. Public Domain.
Presidential elections happen every 6-years. Presidential Elections use the two-round
absolute majority system where in the 1st round a candidate requires an absolute
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10. majority to win outright, unless there is only one candidate which means an election
isn’t held and they win by default, but if no candidate reaches an absolute majority in
the 1st round then a 2nd round is held between the top two candidate won by simple
majority. One person can serve the max of two consecutive terms.
To be a candidate one must be a native-born Finnish citizen. Candidates are nominated
by political parties who have at least one representative in parliament and by any group
made up of at least 20,000 citizens who have the right to vote.
Parliamentary elections happen every 4-years to elect the 200 members of the
Parliament of Finland. 199 of the Members are elected via a proportional representation
system from multi-seat constituencies, the minimum number of constituencies is 14 but
can be as high as 18 and this and the number of representatives in a constituency is
dependent on the population. The autonomous Aland Islands have a permanent single-
seat constituency of their own where they elect one representative to parliament via the
first-past-the-post system.
Proportional Representation means that parties/groups that reach a certain percentage
of the vote in the constituencies are guaranteed seats and the proportion of the vote
they get overall is reflected as closely as possible in the parliamentary composition.
Candidates for Parliament are nominated by parties and groups of voters. Eligibility for
candidate requires those nominated be at least of voting age and not under
guardianship, they can also not hold military office. There are also a number of other
public offices and positions that representatives cannot hold such as Chancellor of
Justice of the Government, Parliamentary Ombudsman, Justice of Supreme Court or
Supreme Administrative Court, and the Prosecutor-General. The President of the
Republic also cannot be a representative, if while a representative they enter into any of
these positions they must cease being a representative.
The office of a Representative is suspended for the duration they have in military service
or as a member of the European Parliament and a deputy will take their place during
this time. Representatives can also be removed by a two-thirds vote of members for
neglect of duties, offences punishable by prison sentencing and also electoral offences,
after opinion of the Constitutional Law Committee, again pretty much every parliament
has this function it is that normally I don’t mention it.
Before the Prime Minister is elected, parliamentary groups will debate on the political
programme and composition of Government. After the outcome of these negotiations
and after the President has heard from the Speaker of Parliament and from the
Parliamentary groups, the President will nominate a candidate for Prime Minister,
which requires more than one-half of the votes from parliament to be elected, if the
nominee fails to get the required majority then another candidate is nominated, if they
also fail to get the majority required an open vote is held in parliament and whoever
gets a simple majority will be elected Prime Minister and then appointed by the
President to form Government.
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11. To vote one must be a citizen of Finland or a foreigner permanently resident in Finland
and be at least 18-years-old.
Sources
The sources for this blogpost come from Finland’s 1999 constitution with amendments
through to 2011 and so should be as accurate as possible but of course there is always
the chance I have misinterpreted something or missed other things and so cross-
research is encouraged for those using this in a serious capacity, as well as that the
constitution can always be changed and so this may eventually become outdated.
Amendment of the constitution is proposed through parliament and requires usually
two readings passed via simple majority in the first parliamentary session and then
adopted via a two-thirds majority vote after fresh parliamentary elections. The process
can be made faster at the vote of five-sixths of parliament members to make it an urgent
matter where the amendment can be straight up adopted via a two-thirds majority.
Next up will be the Governemnt System of France!
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