A quick guide to Finnish politics

Finland is a constitutional republic whose head of state is the president. Presidential Elections are held every six years and the president is elected by a direct vote. One person can hold the post for a maximum of two terms. The current president is Tarja Halonen who is the first female president of Finland. She was first elected in 2000 and re-elected last year.

The parliament of Finland has 200 representatives elected by a direct proportional vote every four years. The proportional system ensures that representatives are elected from all over the country. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President once the Parliament has elected him/her.

In the Parliamentary elections of 2003, 75 of elected representatives were women. Finland's record in equality in politics is something for the Finns to be proud of. Finland was the first country in the world to grant women full parliamentary rights (year 1906).

Finalnd has had a female Prime Minister (Anneli Jaatteenmaki, Centre Party) only once, but her time in office only lasted for two months and a day (17.4- 18.6. 2003). She was caught up in the middle of a scandal about leaked secret documents. Vanhanen has been the Prime Minister since Jaatteenmaki was forced to resign
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The number of political parties in Finland is relatively high at 16 of which 8 hold seats in the Parliament. Currently, the Centre Party has the most seats in the Parliament. The other seven parties holding seats are the Social Democratic Party, the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus, Fi), the Left Wing Alliance (Fi), the Green League (Fi), the Swedish People's Party (Fi), the Christian Democrats (Fi) and the True Finns (Fi). One seat, however, is reserved for the representative of province of Aland (Aland is an autonomous province of Finland).

Finland has been a member of European Union since 1995 and member of United Nations since 1955. Finland changed its currency from its national 'markka', Fin Mark (FIM) to Euro (EUR) in 2002.

The Parliament of Finland celebrates its centennial this year. The celebrations started in June last year and will go on until the end of May 2007. The theme is: "The right to vote- trust in law. One hundred years of Finnish democracy."