President of Finland

This article is about the President of Finland as an institution. For a list of presidents, see List of presidents of Finland.
President of the Republic of Finland
Suomen tasavallan presidentti (Finnish)
Republiken Finlands president (Swedish)
Presidential Standard
since 1 March 2024
Executive branch of the Finnish Government
Office of the President of Finland
Style
TypeHead of state
Residence
AppointerDirect election
Term lengthSix years, renewable once consecutively
Inaugural holderKaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
Formation26 July 1919; 105 years ago (1919-07-26)
DeputyPrime Minister of Finland
Salary€160,000 annually[1]
WebsitePresident of the Republic of Finland
Björneborgarnas marsch (MID)
"March of the Björneborgers" or "March of the Pori Regiment" from the 19th century; known as the Song of the President of Finland
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Politics of Finland
State
Executive
Legislative
Judiciary
Recent elections
Political parties
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

The president of the Republic of Finland (Finnish: Suomen tasavallan presidentti; Swedish: republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024.[2]

The president is directly elected by universal suffrage for a term of six years. Since 1994, no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. The president must be a natural-born Finnish citizen. The presidential office was established in the Constitution Act of 1919. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the president, with the latter possessing only residual powers. Only formally, the president ranks first in the protocol, before the speaker of the parliament and the prime minister of Finland.[3]

Finland has, for most of its independence, had a semi-presidential system in which the president had much authority and power over both foreign and domestic policy, but constitutional amendments adopted in 1991, 2000 and 2012 reduced the president's powers and moved the country towards a more parliamentary system. The president still leads the nation's foreign politics in conjunction with the Government, and is the commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces.

  1. ^ "Palkkio ja eläke". Presidentti.
  2. ^ https://www.presidentti.fi/en/press-release/president-of-the-republic-of-finland-to-be-inaugurated-on-1-march-2024/ President of the Republic of Finland to be inaugurated on 1 March 2024
  3. ^ Maassa maan tavalla – tunne säännöt ja onnistu. Ulkoasiainministeriön protokollapalvelut (in Finnish). Ulkoasiainministeriö. 2008. ISBN 978-952-281-173-8.