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.
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.
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 policy in conjunction with the Government, and is the commander-in-chief of the Finnish Defence Forces.
The president is elected by direct popular vote. Candidates can be nominated by registered political parties that won at least one seat in the previous parliamentary elections. Alternatively, a candidate may also be nominated by 20,000 enfranchised citizens. It is common practice for each political party to set its own, distinct candidate.
If only one candidate is nominated, that candidate becomes president without an election. Otherwise, the first round of balloting takes place on the fourth Sunday of January in the election year. The elections are two-staged. If one of the candidates receives more than half of the votes cast, that candidate is elected president. If no candidate wins a majority in the first stage, the top two candidates compete in a second round two weeks later. The candidate who then receives more votes is elected. In the event of a tie, the outcome is determined by lot. The Government confirms the outcome and, if necessary, conducts the drawing of lots. The president assumes office on the first day of the month following the election.
Between 1919 and 1988, the president was elected indirectly by an electoral college made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In the 1988 presidential election, a direct and an indirect election were conducted in parallel: if no candidate could gain a majority, the president was elected by an electoral college formed in the same elections. Since 1994, the president has been elected by a direct popular vote.
Several exceptional presidential elections have been held:
1919, the first president, K. J. Ståhlberg, was elected by the Finnish Parliament under the transitional provision of the constitution that had just come into force.
1940, President Kyösti Kallio announced his resignation and the electors, who were voted for the 1937 presidential election, also elected Prime Minister Risto Ryti as president for Kallio's unused term (a little over two years until 1943), because electoral college elections could not be held during the martial law that began with the Winter War.
1943, the president (Ryti again) was also elected by the 1937 electors, exceptionally for a term of only two years, because of the Continuation War.
1944, Ryti announced his resignation and as the Continuation War continued, the Parliament, by an emergency law, appointed Marshal of Finland Gustaf Mannerheim, Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Armed Forces, as president for a six-year term.
1946, Mannerheim announced his resignation and, as the martial law was still in effect, Parliament elected Prime Minister J. K. Paasikivi as President for Mannerheim's unused term (almost four years until 1950).
1973, a emergency law enacted by Parliament – although there was no state of emergency in Finland – extended President Urho Kekkonen's third term, which had begun in 1968, by four years (from 1974 to 1978).
1982, Kekkonen announced his resignation a couple of years before the end of his (fourth) term and Prime Minister Mauno Koivisto was elected as his successor normally by the electors and for a normal six-year term (there was no state of emergency).
The president-elect, accompanied by the Speaker of the Parliament and the outgoing president, assumes office on the first day of the month following the election by making a solemn affirmation in both Finnish and Swedish at a ceremony in Parliament House. The affirmation is specified in Section 56 of the Constitution, and in English reads "I, [N. N.], elected by the people of Finland as the President of the Republic, hereby affirm that in my presidential duties I shall sincerely and conscientiously observe the Constitution and the laws of the Republic, and to the best of my ability promote the wellbeing of the people of Finland."
The term of the president-elect begins at the moment the affirmation has been made (around 12:20 on the day of the inauguration). After the inauguration, the new president, accompanied by their predecessor, inspects the guard of honour outside Parliament House.
The president of Finland does not have a vice president. If the president is temporarily prevented from performing their duties, such as due to an international trip from where they are unable to return quickly during a time when suh may be required, the prime minister serves as acting president until the president's incapacity ceases. If the president dies in office or if the Government declares that the president is permanently unable to carry out the duties of office, a new election is triggered to determine a successor. If the prime minister is unavailable the duties are carried out by the minister deputising for the prime minister.
If the chancellor of justice, the parliamentary ombudsman or the Government deem that the president is guilty of treason or high treason, or crimes against humanity, the matter shall be communicated to Parliament. If Parliament, by three-fourths of the votes cast, decides that charges are to be brought, the Prosecutor-General prosecutes the president in the High Court of Impeachment and the president abstains from office for the duration of the proceedings. There is, however, no mechanism laid out in the Constitution or other laws for removing a president from office.