The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The Parliament consists of 200 members, 199 of whom are elected every four years from 13 multi-member districts electing 6 to 37 members using the proportional D'Hondt method. In addition, there is one member from Åland.
Legislation may be initiated by either the Government or one of the members of Parliament. The Parliament passes legislation, decides on the state budget, approves international treaties, and supervises the activities of the government. It may bring about the resignation of the Finnish Government, override presidential vetoes, and alter the constitution. To make changes to the constitution, amendments must be approved by two successive parliaments, with an election cycle in between. The first parliament requires a 1/2 majority to approve it and the second a 2/3 majority. If the matter is urgent and can not wait for an election, the amendment can be declared urgent by a 5/6 majority. An urgent amendment can then be passed by a 2/3 majority. Most MPs work in parliamentary groups which correspond with the political parties. The Parliament currently comprises nine parliamentary groups. Since the establishment of the Parliament in 1905, the parliamentary majority has been held once by a single party: the Social Democrats in the 1916 election. Thus, for the government to gain a majority in the Parliament, coalition governments are favored. These are generally formed by at least two of the three historically major parties: the Social Democrats, Centre, and National Coalition. Ministers are often but not necessarily MPs. The Parliament meets in the Parliament House (, ), which is located in central Helsinki.
The most recent parliamentary election took place on 2 April 2023. After the 2023 election the Orpo Cabinet was formed by the National Coalition, Finns and Swedish People's parties as well as the Christian Democrats.
Name
Finnish The Parliament's Finnish name is , uncapitalized. First attested in 1853 in Daniel Europaeus' Finnish-Swedish dictionary with the meaning 'Assembly of Representatives', it was used to refer to e.g. the United States House of Representatives. The term was introduced into the Finnish law when the unicameral parliament was established in 1906. Until the 1950s, could be used as a general term for legislatures in any country, but nowadays it is only used for the Finnish parliament.
Swedish In Swedish, the Parliament's name is , uncapitalized. This is also the general term for the Swedish legislature. derives from the genitive of ('realm') referring to the independent state of Finland, and , meaning diet or conference.
Before independence, until the Constitution Act of 1919, the Parliament was known, in Swedish, as (cognate of landtag, having the sense of "subnational assembly") which was the old term for the Diet of Finland.
History
The Parliament of Finland was preceded by the Diet of Finland (; , modern ), which had succeeded the Riksdag of the Estates in 1809. When the unicameral Parliament of Finland was established by the Parliament Act in 1906, Finland was an autonomous grand duchy and principality under the Imperial Russian Tsar, who ruled as the Grand Duke, rather than as an absolute monarch. Universal suffrage and eligibility was implemented, making Finland the second country in the world to adopt universal suffrage. Women could both vote and run for office as equals, and this applied also to landless people, with no excluded minorities. The first election to the Parliament was arranged in 1907. The first Parliament had 19 female representatives, an unprecedented number at the time, which grew to 21 by 1913.
The first years of the new Parliament were difficult. Between 1908 and 1916 the power of the Finnish Parliament was almost completely neutralized by the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and the so-called "sabre senate" of Finland, a bureaucratic government formed by Imperial Russian Army officers during the second period of "Russification". The Parliament was dissolved and new elections were held almost every year.
The Finnish Parliament received true political power for the first time after the February Revolution (First Revolution) of 1917 in Russia.Apunen 1987, pp. 47–404 Finland declared its full independence on 6 December 1917, and in the winter and spring of 1918 endured a civil war in which the forces of the Senate, known as the White Guard, defeated the socialist Red Guard.
After the war, monarchists and republicans struggled over the country's form of government. The monarchists seemed to gain a victory when the Parliament elected a German prince as King of Finland in the fall of 1918. This decision was made on the basis of the other Nordic countries also having monarchs. However, the king-elect abdicated the throne after Imperial Germany was defeated in World War I, on 11 November 1918. In the parliamentary election of 1919, the republican parties won three-quarters of the seats, extinguishing the monarchists' ambitions. Finland became a republic with a parliamentary system, but in order to appease the monarchist parties, which favoured a strong head of state, extensive powers were granted to the president of Finland.
When the Soviet Union attacked Finland in the Winter War, in early December 1939 Parliament was evacuated and the legislature temporarily relocated to Kauhajoki, a town in western Finland far away from the frontline. The parliament held 34 plenary sessions in Kauhajoki, with the last on 12 February 1940. Another temporary relocation was seen during the renovation of the Parliament House in 2015–2017 when the Parliament convened in the neighbouring Sibelius Academy.
The Constitution of 1919, which instituted a parliamentary system, did not undergo any major changes for 70 years. Although the government was responsible to the Parliament, the president wielded considerable authority, which was used to its full extent by long-standing President Urho Kekkonen. As the Constitution implemented very strong protections for political minorities, most changes in legislation and state finances could be blocked by a qualified minority of one third. This, in conjunction with the inability of some of the parties to enter into coalition governments, led to weak, short-lived cabinets.
During President Mauno Koivisto's tenure in the 1980s, cabinets sitting for the whole parliamentary term became the norm. At the same time, the ability of qualified minorities to block legislation was gradually removed and the powers of the Parliament were greatly increased in the constitutional reform of 1991.
The revised 2000 draft of the Finnish constitution removed almost all domestic powers of the president, strengthening the position of the cabinet and the Parliament. It also included the methods for the discussion of EU legislation under preparation in the Parliament.
Dissolutions of Parliament The Parliament of Finland has been dissolved before the end of its term fourteen times during its existence. The most recent instance was on 4 June 1975. DateVaarnas, Kalle . Otavan Suuri Ensyklopedia. 1977.Eduskunta Osa 2 (Cid–Harvey) page 932. Otava.DissolverReasonNew elections 6 April 1908 Emperor Nicholas II No confidence vote Parliamentary election, 1908 22 February 1909 Dispute over the Speaker P. E. Svinhufvud's opening speech Parliamentary election, 1909 18 November 1909 Dispute over military budget contribution to the Imperial Russian Army Parliamentary election, 1910 8 October 1910Dispute over military budget contribution to the Imperial Russian Army and Non-Discrimination Act Parliamentary election, 1911 1913 Parliamentary election, 1913 2 August 1917 Provisional Government of RussiaAct of Power Parliamentary election, 1917 23 December 1918Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (State Regent) Hung parliament Parliamentary election, 1919 18 January 1924K. J. Ståhlberg(President) Hung parliament Parliamentary election, 1924, 19 April 1929Lauri Kristian Relander Government clerks payroll act voting Parliamentary election, 1929 15 July 1930 Bill over banning communist activity Parliamentary election, 1930 8 December 1953J. K. Paasikivi Government cabinet crises Parliamentary election, 1954 14 November 1961Urho Kekkonen Note Crisis Parliamentary election, 1962 29 October 1971 Dispute over agricultural payroll Parliamentary election, 1972 4 June 1975 Dispute over developing area budget Parliamentary election, 1975
Elections The Parliament's 200 representatives are elected directly by ballot on the basis of proportional representation. A standard electoral period is four years. Elections have previously taken two days, but as early voting has become more popular, they are now conducted during one day; the third Sunday of April of an election year.
Every Finnish citizen who is at least 18 years of age on the election date is entitled to vote in general elections. There is normally no need to register as a voter, and citizens receive an invitation by mail. With certain exceptions, such as military personnel on active duty, high judicial officials, the President of the Republic, and persons under guardianship, any voter may also stand as a candidate for the Parliament. All registered parties are entitled to nominate candidates; individual citizens and independent electoral organizations must be endorsed by a sufficient number of voters through the form of to apply.
In parliamentary elections, Finland is divided into 13 electoral districts. The number of representatives granted to each district is proportional to its population, except for Åland, which always elects one representative. The provincial state offices appoint an election board in each electoral district to prepare lists of candidates and to approve the election results. The Ministry of Justice has the ultimate responsibility for holding elections.
The president of Finland can call for an early election. As per the version of the constitution currently in use, the president can do this only upon proposal by the prime minister and after consultations with the parliamentary groups while the Parliament is in session. In prior versions of the constitution, the president had the power to do this unilaterally.
There is no hard and fast election threshold to get a seat in Parliament. This results in a large number of parties being represented. In 2019, for instance, nine parties won seats, with six winning at least 15 seats. With so many parties and the lack of a threshold, it is nearly impossible for one party to win an outright majority. During the history of the Parliament, only one party has ever won an outright majority–when the Social Democrats won 103 seats in the election of 1916. Since independence in 1917, no party has ever won the 101 seats needed for a majority. Instead, most Finnish governments have been coalitions formed by three or more parties. Many of them have been grand coalitions between parties with varying ideological backgrounds, as usually neither of the two largest opposing forces - the socialist bloc and the conservative bloc - win enough seats to govern on their own.
The seats for each electoral district are assigned according to the D'Hondt method. Electoral districts were originally based on the historical lääni division of 1634, but there have been several subsequent changes. Although there is no set election threshold, many electoral districts have become smaller in terms of population in recent decades, and some now elect as few as six representatives. This makes it harder for small parties to win MPs in these districts.
Parliamentary groups