President of Finland

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  The President of Finland stands at the head of one of Europe's most carefully balanced systems of power. Since the 1st of March 2024, that office has been held by Alexander Stubb, elected for the first time in the 2024 presidential election. But the office itself is far older than any of its current occupants, and its history is stranger and more contested than most people outside Finland would guess.

  How did a country that briefly considered becoming a monarchy in 1918 end up with one of the world's most regulated presidencies? Why does the Finnish head of state earn 160,000 euros a year, tax-free, and then voluntarily give that up? And what does it mean that the last time the commander-in-chief role was actually delegated to someone else was during the Second World War, to a field marshal named Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim? Those questions run through everything that follows.

• 2. The 1919 Constitution

  ›

  Finland declared independence on the 6th of December 1917, but the question of what kind of country it would be took much longer to settle. After independence and the Civil War, a fierce debate broke out over whether Finland should be a republic or a constitutional monarchy. The monarchists had a candidate: Prince Frederick Charles of Hesse, elected King of Finland by Parliament on the 7th of October 1918. He never took office. Germany's defeat in the First World War changed the political climate so fast that the prince renounced the throne on the 4th of December 1918 before he could even arrive in the country.

  What emerged from that debate was described at the time as a compromise: a presidency designed to look and feel somewhat like a monarchy, with significant power over foreign affairs, the appointment of government ministers, and the officers of the civil service. The presidential office was formally established in the Constitution Act of 1919, and the first person to hold it was K. J. Ståhlberg, elected not by voters but by the Finnish Parliament itself, under a transitional provision of the new constitution.

  It is said that Prince Frederick Charles's intended regnal name was to be Väinö I of Finland, a reference to Väinämöinen, one of the central figures in the Finnish national epic the Kalevala. But no contemporary records confirm this name, and it is now widely regarded as a popular misbelief, probably spread by a columnist named Väinö Nuorteva.

• 3. How Presidents Are Chosen

  ›

  Between 1919 and 1988, no Finnish citizen voted directly for a president. The election was indirect, conducted through an electoral college made up of electors chosen by voters in a separate election. In the 1988 presidential election, both systems ran simultaneously: a direct vote was held alongside the electoral college, and the college would have stepped in only if no candidate reached a majority. Since 1994, the president has been elected by direct popular vote alone.

  Candidates can be put forward by registered parties that hold at least one seat in Parliament, or by a petition of 20,000 enfranchised citizens. The first round of voting takes place on the fourth Sunday of January in the election year. If one candidate wins more than half of all votes cast, the election is over. If not, the top two candidates face each other again two weeks later, and whoever receives more votes wins. A tie is resolved by lot, with the Government conducting the draw.

  The elections have not always followed these rules. In 1940, with Finland under martial law following the Winter War, President Kyösti Kallio resigned and the electors from the 1937 election were convened to choose his successor. They elected Prime Minister Risto Ryti for the remainder of Kallio's term. In 1973, Parliament extended President Urho Kekkonen's third term by four years, from 1974 to 1978, even though there was no state of emergency at the time.

• 4. Shifting Powers

  ›

  For most of Finland's independence, the president held substantial authority over both foreign and domestic policy in a semi-presidential system. That began to change with constitutional amendments in 1991, then more significantly in 2000, and again in 2012. Each round of reform trimmed the presidency's reach and moved Finland toward a more parliamentary model.

  The 2000 Constitution made particularly concrete changes. The president could no longer nominate the prime minister or individual ministers independently, ending a practice that had previously allowed governments to be formed while excluding the party with the most seats in Parliament. Before dissolving Parliament and calling new elections, the president became required to consult the prime minister and the heads of all parliamentary groups. Appointing powers over provincial governors and ministry department heads were transferred outright to the Government.

  Today, under the Constitution, executive power is formally shared between the Finnish Government and the president, with the president holding only what the source describes as residual powers. The president still leads foreign policy in conjunction with the Government, and remains commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces. But in day-to-day protocol, the president ranks first only formally, ahead of the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister.

• 5. Presidential Sessions and Pardons

  ›

  The president exercises governmental powers in a formal weekly session with the Finnish Government, a practice that echoes the historical royal council known as the curia regis. At least five ministers must be present, along with the chancellor of justice. Ministers bring specific topics and proposed decisions; the president considers each proposal and can accept it, depart from it, or return it to the Government for reconsideration. There is no voting and normally no debate beyond the formal presentations.

  One of the more unusual presidential powers is the power of pardon. In practice, this power evolved into the mechanism by which life imprisonment was limited to roughly twelve years or more, because successive presidents eventually granted pardon to every person serving a life sentence. President Sauli Niinistö used the power particularly sparingly. In autumn 2006, the routine paroling of prisoners serving life sentences was transferred to the Helsinki Court of Appeals, ending the arrangement under which the president exercised a judicial function.

  In 2022, the Supreme Court of Finland issued an advisory opinion reinterpreting the constitution to treat bans on business operations as criminal sanctions. This overturned established precedent, expanding what fell within the scope of the presidential pardon power.

• 6. The Independence Day Reception

  ›

  On the 6th of December each year, the Presidential Palace in Helsinki fills with between 1,600 and 2,000 guests for the Independence Day Reception, known in Finnish as Linnanjuhlat, which translates roughly as the Castle Ball. The event is broadcast on Finnish television every year and draws very high viewer ratings. With the exception of ambassadors to Finland, only Finnish citizens are invited.

  The tradition started in 1919 with an afternoon reception at the palace. In 1922, President Ståhlberg held the first evening version, beginning at nine o'clock, with guests from the Government, Parliament, the diplomatic corps, high-ranking officers, senior civil servants, and artists. Music and dancing ran until late in the night, setting a template that has been followed ever since.

  Since 1946 the event has taken place at the palace every year with six exceptions. The 1952 reception was cancelled because of President Paasikivi's illness. In 1974 it was cancelled after the death of President Kekkonen's wife only a few days before the scheduled date. In 2013, the reception was held at Tampere Hall in central Tampere, the first time in the era of independence that the event took place outside Helsinki, because the Presidential Palace was undergoing repairs. In 2020 it was cancelled entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• 7. Salary, Residences, and Succession

  ›

  From 2012 to 2013, the president received an annual salary of 160,000 euros. On the initiative of Sauli Niinistö, it was cut in 2013 to 126,000 euros. As of the 1st of March 2024, it was restored to the earlier level of 160,000 euros. The salary and housing benefits are tax-free.

  Any president who serves six years or longer receives a full pension set at sixty percent of the current presidential salary, along with living arrangements. In addition to the salary, the sitting president has the use of three official properties: the Presidential Palace and Mäntyniemi, both in Helsinki, and Kultaranta in Naantali, on the west coast near Turku.

  Finland has no vice president. If the president is temporarily unable to perform their duties, the prime minister steps in as acting president. If the president dies in office, or if the Government declares a permanent incapacity, a new election is triggered. In the most extreme case, where the president, the prime minister, and the deputy prime minister are all simultaneously unavailable, the most senior government minister by years of service becomes acting president. Parliament can override any of these succession rules by passing an emergency constitutional amendment with at least five-sixths of the votes cast, and has done so on multiple occasions, including during the wartime appointments of Mannerheim in 1944 and Paasikivi in 1946.