The politics of Finland take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy. Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Alexander Stubb,who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces. Finland's head of government is Prime Minister Petteri Orpo,who leads the nation's executive branch,called the Finnish Government. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland,and the Government has limited rights to amend or extend legislation. The Constitution of Finland vests power to both the President and Government:the President has veto power over parliamentary decisions,although this power can be overruled by a majority vote in the Parliament.
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen,often referred to by his initials UKK,was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister,and held various other cabinet positions. He was the third and most recent president from the Agrarian League/Centre Party. Head of state for nearly 26 years,he dominated Finnish politics for 31 years overall. Holding a large amount of power,he won his later elections with little opposition and has often been classified as an autocrat.
Nils Ole Hilmer Torvalds is a Finnish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2012. He is a member of the Swedish People's Party of Finland,part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.
Johannes Virolainen was a Finnish politician and who served as 30th Prime Minister of Finland,helped inhabitants of Karelia,opposed the use of alcohol and created Mandatory Swedish in Finnish basic schools.
Johannes Pieter "Jan" Pronk Jr. is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Labour Party (PvdA) and activist.
Anni Milja Maaria Sinnemäki is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament between 1999 and 2015,representing the Green League.
Tuija Kaarina Brax is a Finnish politician and former Minister of Justice. She is a Member of Finnish Parliament,representing the Green League. She was first elected to the Parliament in 1995. She has been the Minister of Justice in Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet and Mari Kiviniemi's cabinet.
Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen was a Finnish economist and politician. He was a member of the Agrarian League and served two terms as Prime Minister of Finland. He is,however,better known for his period as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Karjalainen is considered one of the most influential figures in post-war Finnish politics. Like President Urho Kekkonen,Karjalainen attached great importance to Finland's relationship with the Soviet Union,and was at one point considered to be Kekkonen's likely successor until alcoholism affected his later career.
Leena Luhtanen is a Finnish politician and a former member of the cabinet. Luhtanen is a member of the Social Democratic Party,and served in the parliament from 1991 until 2007.
Pekka Olavi Haavisto is a Finnish politician of the Green League who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2019 to 2023.
Vieno Johannes (V.J.) "Jussi" Sukselainen,was twice Prime Minister of Finland and four times Speaker of the Parliament. He was President of the Nordic Council in 1972 and 1977. He also served as the fourth Director General of Kela,the Finnish social security agency,from 1954 until 1971.
Johannes Henricus "Johan" van Maarseveen was a Dutch politician of the defunct Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP) and later the Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist.
Matti Kalevi Louekoski is a Finnish politician and a lawyer as profession. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) and a former long-term member of the governing board of the Bank of Finland.
Anna-Maja Kristina Henriksson is a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician. She has served as Finland's Minister of Justice,in Jyrki Katainen's cabinet and Alexander Stubb's cabinet from 2011 to 2015,Antti Rinne's cabinet from June to December 2019 and in Sanna Marin's cabinet from December 2019 to June 2023. Currently,Henriksson is the country's longest-serving Minister of Justice.
A cabinet is a group of members usually from the executive branch. Cabinets are typically the body responsible for the day-to-day management of the government and response to sudden events,whereas the legislative and judicial branches work in a measured pace,in sessions according to lengthy procedures.
Juha Petri Sipilä is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2015 to 2019. A relative newcomer to politics,he has a successful background in business. He was the leader of the Centre Party from 2012 to 2019. After leading the Centre party to victory in the 2015 general election,Sipiläformed a centre-right coalition and was appointed Prime Minister by the Finnish Parliament on 29 May 2015. On 8 March 2019,Sipilästated his intention to resign as Prime Minister,citing difficulties in reforming Finland's health care system. President Sauli Niinistöasked him to continue with a caretaker government until a new government coalition was appointed on 6 June 2019 and was ultimately succeeded by Antti Rinne.
Antti Juhani Rinne is a Finnish politician who served as speaker of the Parliament of Finland from April to June 2019 and Prime Minister of Finland from June to December 2019. He led the Social Democratic Party from 2014 until 2020. In August 2023,he was hired as the General Secretary of SAMAK for a three-year term.
Timo Olavi Harakka is a Finnish politician. Since April 2015,he has represented the electoral district of Uusimaa in the Parliament of Finland as a Social Democrat.
Antti Edvard Häkkänen is a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party. He has served as Minister of Defence since June 2023 in the Orpo cabinet and as Member of Parliament since 2015. Häkkänen served as Minister of Justice in the Sipiläcabinet from 2017 to 2019.
