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Election and electoral systems in Finland

	Election and electoral systems in Finland
	Constitution of Finland
	admin Tuesday 12 June 2007
Today in Finland Tarja Halonen is elected president and Matti Vanhanen is elected the Prime Minister. Foreign Minister is Ilkka Kanerva. The constitution was first adopted in July 1919 but was rewritten in March 2000. The constitution of Finland is unusual because there is no constitutional court and the supreme court does not have the right to declare laws. The laws in Finland are verified by a vote in the parliament. But the Constitutional Law Committee reviews and recommends if necessary. Finland is a parliamentary democratic republic. The Finnish Parliament consists of 200 representatives.The President of Finland is the head of state, leads the foreign policy, and is the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Forces. The Prime Minister of Finland is the head of government; executive power is exercised by the government. Before the constitutional rewrite the president had much more power but today still the president has veto over the parliament and the foreign policy together with the cabinet and also regarding national security. The "cabinet" (valtioneuvosto) are the ministers including the prime minister and the "government" (hallitus) is the cabinet presided by the president. The president of Finland is elected for six years. The President must be a Finnish citizen. The president may be elected president for no more than two consecutive terms of office. The President is elected by a direct vote. Election day is the third Sunday of January. If one of the candidates receives more than half of the (approved) votes in the election, he or she is elected President. If none of the candidates has received more than 50 % of the votes there must be a new election between the two persons that have received most votes.The person that receives most votes in the second round is elected President. The two last Presidents have been elected by direct elections in two rounds: President Martti Ahtisaari in 1994 and President Tarja Halonen in 2000. Election

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