Prime Minister of Finland

Prime Minister of Finland
Suomen pääministeri
Finlands statsminister
Official insignia of the Prime Minister
State flag of Finland
Incumbent
Juha Sipilä
since 28 May 2015
Member of Cabinet of Finland
European Council
Residence Kesäranta in Helsinki, Finland
Appointer The President of the Republic
Term length No fixed length
Duration of the parliamentary convocation, coalition or upon resignation and removal
Precursor Vice-Chairman of the Economic Division of the Senate of Finland
Formation 27 November 1917
First holder Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Website valtioneuvosto.fi/en/sipila/prime-minister
Republic of Finland
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Finland

The Prime Minister of Finland (Finnish: Suomen pääministeri, Swedish: Finlands statsminister) is the head of the Finnish Government. The prime minister is Finland's head of government and is formally appointed by the President. Finland's first prime minister was Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, who was appointed to the post on 27 November 1917.

Finland's incumbent prime minister is Juha Sipilä of the Centre Party.

Procedure

Under the provisions of the Constitution of Finland, the president nominates a prime minister after the parties in the parliament have negotiated the distribution of seats in the new Council of State and the government's programme. The parliament must ratify the nominated Prime Minister with an absolute majority in a confidence vote without other candidates. If the nominee doesn't receive sufficient support, a new round of negotiations and a second nomination by the President follows. If the second nominee also fails to gain an absolute majority, a third vote is held, in which any member of parliament can nominate a candidate; in this round a plurality is sufficient for election. The president's formal appointment follows the parliament's election.

The above procedure was first used to elect Anneli Jäätteenmäki to the premiership in 2003. Previously it was assumed that the president would nominate the candidate who in a third round of voting would have gained a relative majority, usually the leader of the largest party. Before the new constitution was enacted, full formal powers to appoint the prime minister and the rest of the Council of State had been the privilege of the president, who was free to diverge from parliamentary principles, although the ministers appointed had to have the confidence of the parliament.

Formally, the Prime Minister nominates the remaining members of the Council of State, who are then, with the consent of Parliament, appointed by the President. In practice, the seats are divided between parties during the negotiations to form the government, so that the Prime Minister candidate must take into account the opinions of the participating parties and cannot nominate or remove whoever he wishes.

History

In 1918, the Senate of Finland was transformed into the Council of State of Finland, and the position of Vice-Chairman of the Economic Division was transformed into that of the Prime Minister. Kesäranta, located in the Meilahti area of Helsinki, has been the official residence of the Prime Minister of Finland since 1919.

During its independence, declared in 1917, Finland has had 72 cabinets.[1] The longest lasting have been the two cabinets of Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen (Lipponen I and Lipponen II), both lasting the entire parliamentary term, or 1,464 days.

Salary and benefits

The prime minister's salary is the same as that of the Speaker of the Parliament, which is €11,675 per month. In addition, the prime minister receives a half of the parliamentary salary. The full parliamentary salary is, as of 1 May 2011, at least €6,335 a month, so the Finnish prime minister receives at least €14,842 per month in total. The salary is subject to income tax.

The prime minister is entitled to a 30-day leave (holiday) during each calendar year. The maintenance, staff and services of Kesäranta, the official residence, is paid for by the government.

The prime minister has transportation and security services at their disposal at all times.

Living former prime ministers

See also

References

  1. ↑ Finnish Council of State. "The Cabinet in Office". Finnish Council of State. Archived from the original on 13 November 2010. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
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