Government of Finland

Finland

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Finland

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Finland is a republic with a representative democracy governed accordingly to the principles of parliamentarism. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament of Finland (Finnish: eduskunta). Executive power is exercised by the Cabinet, officially termed Council of State (Finnish: valtioneuvosto, Swedish: statsrådet), which is led by the Prime Minister, the Head of Government. Some matters are decided by the President of the Republic, the Head of State, in plenary meetings with the Council of State, echoing the constitutional history of a privy council. The President is otherwise not present in the Council, but decides on issues such as personal appointments and pardons on the advice of the relevant minister. In the ministries, matters of secondary importance are decided by individual ministers, advised by the minister's State Secretary. The Prime Minister and the other ministers in the Council of State are responsible for their actions in office to the Parliament.

Head of Government

Main article: Prime Minister of Finland

The Head of Government is the Prime Minister, currently Jyrki Katainen, who has held the office since June 22, 2011. The Prime Minister designate is subject to election by the Parliament and, if elected, he or she —along with all the other ministers upon the nomination of the Prime Minister— are appointed by the President of Finland.

Katainen's government is a right-left coalition of the National Coalition Party, Social Democratic Party, Left Alliance, Green League, Swedish People's Party and Christian Democrats. Katainen's predecessor Mari Kiviniemi was elected Prime Minister in June 2010, after the resignation of Matti Vanhanen. Kiviniemi's and Vanhanen's governments both were centre-right coalitions, consisting of the National Coalition, Centre Party, Green League and Swedish People's Party.

Ministries

There are 12 ministries in the government. As there are more members (ministers) in the Council of State than ministries, some are headed by more than one minister.

• Prime Minister's Office
• Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• Ministry of Justice
• Ministry of the Interior
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Finance
• Ministry of Education and Culture
• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
• Ministry of Transport and Communications
• Ministry of Employment and the Economy
• Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
• Ministry of the Environment

Cabinet

Position	Portfolio	Name	Party
Prime Minister		Katainen, Jyrki Tapani	Kok
Deputy Prime Minister	Minister of Finance	Urpilainen, Jutta Pauliina	SDP
Minister	Europe and Foreign Trade	Stubb, Cai-Göran Alexander	Kok
Minister	Public Administration and Local Government	Virkkunen, Henna Maria	Kok
Minister	Agriculture and Forestry	Koskinen, Jari Antero	Kok
Minister	Economy	Häkämies, Jyri Jukka	Kok
Minister	Social Affairs and Health	Risikko, Paula Sinikka	Kok
Minister	Foreign Affairs	Tuomioja, Erkki Sakari	SDP
Minister	Education	Gustafsson, Jukka Tapani	SDP
Minister	Labour	Ihalainen, Lauri Armas	SDP
Minister	Health and Social Services	Guzenina-Richardson, Maria	SDP
Minister	Housing and Communications	Kiuru, Krista Katriina	SDP
Minister	Culture and Sports	Arhinmäki, Paavo Erkki	Vas
Minister	Transport	Kyllönen, Merja Sinikka	Vas
Minister	Development	Hautala, Heidi Annel	Vihr
Minister	Environment	Niinistö, Ville Matti	Vihr
Minister	Justice	Henriksson, Anna-Maja Kristina	RKP
Minister	Defence	Wallin, Stefan Erik	RKP
Minister	Interior	Räsänen, Päivi Maria	KD

See also

• Politics of Finland
• Parliament of Finland
• President of Finland
• Government of Åland
• Municipalities of Finland
• Government Agencies in Finland
• Comprehensive Income Policy Agreement
• Elections in Finland
• Senate of Finland

External links

• Finnish Government's official web service
• List of Finnish Governments