President of Finland
The president of the Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavallan presidentti; Swedish: republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024.[2]
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$_$_$DEEZ_NUTS#0__call_to_action.textDEEZ_NUTS$_$_$President of the Republic of Finland
- Mr. President
(informal) - His Excellency
(diplomatic)
- Presidential Palace
(ceremonial) - Mäntyniemi
(residential) - Kultaranta
(summer residence)
Six years, renewable once consecutively
26 July 1919
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The president is directly elected by universal suffrage for a term of six years. Since 1994, no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The president must be a natural-born Finnish citizen. The presidential office was established in the Constitution Act of 1919. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the president, with the latter possessing only residual powers. Only formally, the president ranks first in the protocol, before the speaker of the parliament and the prime minister of Finland.[3]
Finland has, for most of its independence, had a semi-presidential system in which the president had much authority and power over both foreign and domestic policy, but constitutional amendments adopted in 1991, 2000 and 2012 reduced the president's powers and moved the country towards a more parliamentary system. The president still leads the nation's foreign politics in conjunction with the Government, and is the commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces.
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Title[edit]
Officially, the current head of state of Finland is known as the president of the Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavallan presidentti; Swedish: republiken Finlands president) or, more often, the president of the Republic (tasavallan presidentti, republikens president). This is in contrast to former presidents, who retain the title "President".[note 1]
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Election[edit]
Presidential candidates can be nominated by registered parties which have received at least one seat in the previous parliamentary elections. A candidate may also be nominated by 20,000 enfranchised citizens. Between 1919 and 1988, the president was elected indirectly by an electoral college made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In the 1988 presidential election, a direct and an indirect election were conducted in parallel: if no candidate could gain a majority, the president was elected by an electoral college formed in the same elections. Since 1994, the president has been elected by a direct popular vote.
If only one candidate is nominated, that candidate becomes president without an election. Otherwise, the first round of balloting takes place on the fourth Sunday[4] of January in the election year. The elections are two-staged. If one of the candidates receives more than half of the votes cast, that candidate is elected president. If no candidate wins a majority in the first stage, the top two candidates rerun in the second stage two weeks[4] later. The candidate who then receives more votes is elected. In the event of a tie, the election is resolved by lot. The Government confirms the outcome of the election and, if necessary, conducts the drawing of lots. The president assumes office on the first day of the month following the election (either 1 February or 1 March depending on whether there were one or two rounds).
There have been several exceptional presidential elections. The first president, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, was chosen by the Finnish parliament due to the transition rule of the constitution and also due to the martial law. In 1940 and 1943, the 1937 electoral college chose the president, as it was felt that a popular election could not be arranged due to the martial law (1940) and the Continuation War (1943). In 1944 special legislation directly stipulated that Marshal Mannerheim be elected president for six years after Risto Ryti had resigned mid-term. In 1946, special legislation empowered the Parliament to choose a successor for the remainder of Mannerheim's term (until 1950), the latter having resigned. Then Prime Minister Juho Kusti Paasikivi was elected president by the Parliament. In 1973, special legislation extended President Urho Kekkonen's term by four years until 1978, when he was re-elected regularly.
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Inauguration[edit]
The president-elect, accompanied by the Speaker of the Parliament and the outgoing president, assumes office on the first day of the month following the election by making a solemn affirmation in both Finnish and Swedish at a ceremony in Parliament House. The affirmation is specified in Section 56 of the Constitution, and in English reads "I, [N. N.], elected by the people of Finland as the President of the Republic, hereby affirm that in my presidential duties I shall sincerely and conscientiously observe the Constitution and the laws of the Republic, and to the best of my ability promote the wellbeing of the people of Finland."[5]
The term of the president-elect begins at the moment the affirmation has been made (around 12:20 on the day of the inauguration). After the inauguration, the new president, accompanied by their predecessor, inspects the guard of honour outside Parliament House.
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Impeachment[edit]
If the chancellor of justice, the parliamentary ombudsman or the Government deem that the president is guilty of treason or high treason, or crimes against humanity, the matter shall be communicated to Parliament. If Parliament, by three-fourths of the votes cast, decides that charges are to be brought, the Prosecutor-General prosecutes the president in the High Court of Impeachment and the president abstains from office for the duration of the proceedings. There is, however, no mechanism laid out in the Constitution or other laws for removing a president from office.