1.
Katajanokka
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Katajanokka is a neighbourhood of Helsinki, Finland, with around 4000 inhabitants in 2005. Originally, it was a headland of the Helsinki peninsula but is now technically an island, Katajanokka is one of the most distinguished neighbourhoods in Helsinki. Katajanokkas residents include former Finnish President Mauno Koivisto and composer Einojuhani Rautavaara, the south side of Katajanokka is dominated by a passenger harbour which is frequented by large cruiseferries traveling between Helsinki, Stockholm, Mariehamn, Tallinn and Rostock. The rest of the district comprises co-operative apartment buildings and several small parks, the eastern part was for a long time a closed military area containing a naval base and shipyard, later a commercial shipyard. It was redeveloped in the 1970s and 1980s into a residential zone. The new residential area is considered an example of modern town planning. A major part of the project was the conversion and extension of the old Russian naval barracks to house the Finnish foreign ministry, the northern shore of Katajanokka still serves as a base for the Finnish coast guard, Helsinki maritime police as well as the Finnish icebreaker fleet. Landmarks of Katajanokka include the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, also known as Uspenski Cathedral, the Merikasarmi complex of the Foreign Ministry, another famous building in Katajanokka is the former district prison of Southern Finland. The old prison dates back to 1837, and functioned as a prison until 2002, the prison underwent an extensive interior renovation to convert the cells of the prison into hotel rooms, with sets of two or three cells combined to make up the current hotel rooms. The Best Western Premier Hotel Katajanokka opened in May 2007 with 106 guest rooms, renovations cost a reported 15 million euro. As a historic building, strict limits were imposed on the redevelopment due to the regime of protection for historically significant buildings that is in effect in Finland. Thus, as a hotel, the exterior of the building has preserved, as has the central corridor of the old prison. A restaurant at the lowest level of the hotel has attempted to keep much of the character of the old prison alive, and is called the Jailbird Restaurant. However, a former prisoner told a Finnish newspaper that the supposed prison cutlery is very different from what the prison actually used, for example. Recently, there was controversy over the demolition of the cadet school of the Russian navy. Vacated by the Finnish military in the 1980s, the building survived, with various uses, in the late 1990s, the city of Helsinki announced that it was going to demolish the building to build a new apartment building in its place. This caused huge protests, and the demolition was put off for almost a decade, mainly because of opposition from inhabitants. The navy school building was demolished in autumn 2006
2.
Helsinki
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Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of 629,512, a population of 1,231,595. Helsinki is located some 80 kilometres north of Tallinn, Estonia,400 km east of Stockholm, Sweden, Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities. The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen. It is the worlds northernmost metro area of one million people. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries, Helsinki is Finlands major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europes major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies operating in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region, the nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia. In 2009, Helsinki was chosen to be the World Design Capital for 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the city was the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest 2007. In 2011, the Monocle magazine ranked Helsinki the most liveable city in the world in its Liveable Cities Index 2011, in the Economist Intelligence Units August 2015 Liveability survey, assessing the best and worst cities to live in globally, Helsinki placed among the worlds top ten cities. Helsinki is used to refer to the city in most languages, the Swedish name Helsingfors is the original official name of the city. The Finnish name probably comes from Helsinga and similar names used for the river that is known as the Vantaa River. Helsingfors comes from the name of the parish, Helsinge and the rapids, which flowed through the original village. As part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, one suggestion for the origin of the name Helsinge is that it originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came from Hälsingland in Sweden. Others have proposed that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing, other Scandinavian cities located at similar geographic locations were given similar names at the time, for example Helsingør and Helsingborg. The name Helsinki has been used in Finnish official documents and in Finnish language newspapers since 1819, the decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish, in Helsinki slang the city is called Stadi. Hesa, is not used by natives to the city, helsset is the Northern Sami name of Helsinki
3.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
4.
Finnish Declaration of Independence
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The Finnish Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Parliament of Finland on 6 December 1917. Declaring the independence was only part of the process leading to independence of Finland. There were negotiations between the Russian Provisional Government and Finnish authorities, at the time of the vote it was believed that the Provisional Government would be quickly defeated by the rebellion in Saint Petersburg. The Provisional Government survived, however, disapproved of the Power Act, the regency council was however never elected because of the strong opposition of Finnish socialists and their general strike which demanded for more radical action. On 2 November 1917, the Bolsheviks declared a right of self-determination, including the right of complete secession. On the same day the Finnish Parliament issued a declaration by which it assumed, pro tempore, the old Instrument of Government was however no longer deemed suitable. Leading circles had long held monarchism and hereditary nobility to be antiquated, the Senate of Finland, the government the Parliament had appointed in November, drafted a Declaration of Independence and a proposal for a new republican Instrument of Government. Chairman of the Senate Pehr Evind Svinhufvud read the Declaration to the Parliament on 4 December, the Declaration of Independence was technically given the form of a preamble of the proposition, and was intended to be agreed by the Parliament. Parliament adopted the Declaration on 6 December, the people of Finland feel deeply that they cannot fulfil their national and international duty without complete sovereignty. The century-old desire for freedom awaits fulfilment now, Finlands people step forward as a nation among the other nations in the world. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania declared their independence from Russia during the same period, see Estonian War of Independence, Latvian Independence and Lithuanian Wars of Independence. These three countries were occupied by, and annexed into, the Soviet Union, see Occupation of the Baltic states. The people of Finland have by this step taken their fate in their own hands, the people of Finland feel deeply that they cannot fulfil their national duty and their universal human obligations without a complete sovereignty. The century-old desire for freedom awaits fulfilment now, The People of Finland has to step forward as an independent nation among the nations in the world. Achieving this goal requires mainly some measures by the Parliament, the same goal also calls for measures from the part of the Government. The Government will approach foreign powers to seek an international recognition of our country’s independence as a state. And widely over all the horrors of the war is heard a voice, that one of the goals of the present war is to be, that no nation shall be forced against its will to be dependent on another. The Finnish people believe that the free Russian people and its constitutive National Assembly don’t want to prevent Finland’s aspiration to enter the multitude of the free and independent nations
5.
Finnish Defence Forces
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The Finnish Defence Forces are responsible for the defence of Finland. A universal male conscription is in place, under which all men above 18 years of age serve for 165,255 or 347 days, alternative non-military service and volunteer service by women are possible. Finland is the only non-NATO EU country bordering Russia, finlands official policy states that a wartime military strength of 230,000 personnel constitutes a sufficient deterrent. The army consists of a mobile field army backed up by local defence units. Finlands defence budget equals approximately 2.8 billion euros or 1.3 percent of GDP, the voluntary overseas service is highly popular and troops serve around the world in UN, NATO and EU missions. Homeland defence willingness against an enemy is at 76%, one of the highest rates in Europe. Fighting between the White Guards and the Red Guards had already broken out about a week before around Viipuri, after winning the Civil War, the Finnish peacetime army was organized as three divisions and a brigade by professional German officers. It became the structure for the next 20 years. The coast was guarded by former czarist coastal fortifications and ships taken as prizes of war, the Air Force had already been formed in March 1918, but remained a part of the Army and did not become a fully independent fighting force until 1928. The new government instituted conscription after the Civil War and also introduced a mobilization system, when the Soviets invaded in November 1939, the Finns defeated the Red Army on numerous occasions, including at the crucial Battle of Suomussalmi. These successes were in part thanks to the application of motti tactics. While the Finns ultimately lost the war and were forced to agree to the Moscow Peace Treaty, during the war the Finns lost 25,904 men, while Soviet losses were 167,976 dead. Finland fought in the Continuation War alongside Germany from 1941 to 1944, thanks to German aid, the army was now much better equipped, and the period of conscription had been increased to two years, making possible the formation of sixteen infantry divisions. The demobilization and regrouping of the Finnish Defense Forces were carried out in late 1944 under the supervision of the Soviet-dominated Allied Control Commission. Following the Treaty of Paris in 1947, which imposed restrictions on the size and equipment of the forces and required disbandment of the Civic Guard. The reorganization resulted in the adoption of the brigade -in place of the division- as the standard formation, for the first two decades after the Second World War, the Finnish Defence Forces relied largely on obsolete wartime material. Defence spending remained minimal until the early 1960s, during the peak of the Cold War, the Finnish government made a conscious effort to increase defence capability. This resulted in the commissioning of new weapons systems and the strengthening of the defence of Finnish Lapland by the establishment of new garrisons in the area
6.
President of Finland
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The President of the Republic of Finland is the nations head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the president, the president is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years. Since 1991, no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms, the president must be a native-born Finnish citizen. The office was established by the Constitution Act of 1919, the current office-holder is Sauli Niinistö. Officially the head of state is known as the President of the Republic of Finland or, more often and this is in contrast to the former presidents, who retain the title President. In other contexts, the term for president is puheenjohtaja – except for appeals courts. Candidates for president can be nominated by registered parties which have received at least one seat in the parliamentary election. A candidate may also be nominated by 20,000 enfranchised citizens, between 1919 and 1988, the president was elected indirectly by an electoral college made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. Since 1994, the president has been elected by a popular vote. If only one candidate is nominated, he or she becomes president without an election, otherwise, the first round of balloting takes place on the third Sunday of January in the election year. If one of the candidates receives more than half of the votes cast, if no candidate wins a majority in the first stage, the top two candidates rerun in the second stage three weeks later. The candidate who receives more votes is elected. In the event of a tie, the election is resolved by lot, the Council of State confirms the outcome of the election and, if necessary, conducts the drawing of lots. The president assumes office on the first day of the following the election. There have been several presidential elections. The first president, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, was chosen by the Finnish parliament due to the rule of the constitution. In 1940 and 1943, the 1937 electoral college chose the president, as it was felt that an election could not be arranged due to the martial law. In 1944 special legislation directly stipulated that Marshal Mannerheim be elected president for six years after Risto Ryti had resigned mid-term, in 1946, special legislation empowered the Parliament to choose a successor for the remainder of Mannerheims term, the latter having resigned
7.
Prime Minister of Finland
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The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State, the current Prime Minister is Juha Sipilä of the Centre Party. Parliament must ratify the nominated Prime Minister with an majority in a vote without other candidates. If the nominee doesnt receive sufficient support, then a new round of negotiations, the Presidents formal appointment follows Parliaments 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. Formally, the Prime Minister nominates the members of the Council of State. Although the Prime Minister is one of the leading political figures. This is mainly because no one party has a chance of winning an outright majority. A Prime Minister usually leads a coalition of three or more parties. The Cabinet follows a government platform agreed upon by the participating parties, kesäranta, located in the Meilahti area of Helsinki, has been the official residence of the Prime Minister of Finland since 1919. Since its independence, Finland has had 71 cabinets, including the current one, the salary of the prime minister is by law the same as the salary of the Speaker of the Parliament, which is €11,675 a month. In addition, the prime minister receives a half of the salary to which he or she is entitled as a sitting member of Parliament. The full parliamentary salary is currently at least €6,335 a month, the salary is subject to normal income tax. The prime minister is entitled to a 30-day leave during each calendar year, the maintenance, staff and services of the official residence is paid for by the government. The prime minister has transportation and security services at their disposal at all times, List of Prime Ministers of Finland List of presidents of Finland Media related to Prime ministers of Finland at Wikimedia Commons Official site From Senate to independent Government
8.
Parliament of Finland
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The Eduskunta is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and normally meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki, however, during the 2015–2017 renovation of the Parliament House, the parliament temporary meets in the nearby Sibelius Academy. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 19,2015, under the Constitution of Finland, the 200-member unicameral parliament exercises supreme decision-making authority in Finland. Sovereignty belongs to the people and that power is vested in the parliament and it passes legislation, decides on the state budget, approves international treaties, and supervises the activities of the government. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or one of the members of the Eduskunta. To make changes to the Constitution, amendments must be approved twice by the Eduskunta, the Eduskuntas 200 representatives are elected directly by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation. The electoral period is four years, Elections previously took two days but as early voting became popular they are now conducted on one day, since 2011 the third Sunday in April. Every citizen who is at least 18 years of age by the date is entitled to vote in general elections. All registered parties are entitled to nominate candidates, individual citizens, in parliamentary elections, Finland is divided into 13 electoral districts. The number of representatives returned by each district depends on the population, Åland is an exception in that it always elects one representative. The provincial state offices appoint a board in each electoral district to prepare lists of candidates. The Ministry of Justice is ultimately responsible for elections, prior to the new constitution the President had the power to do this independently. The President has called an early election eight times in Finnish history, however, there is no hard and fast election threshold to get a seat in Parliament. In large part due to this, it is impossible for one party to win an outright majority. Since the first election in 1907, only one party has won a majority—in the election of 1916. Since Finland gained independence in 1917, no party has won the 101 seats necessary for a majority and it is also very difficult for the socialist and non-socialist blocs to form a government on their own. Most Finnish governments in recent history have been coalitions between three or more parties, and many of them have been coalitions between socialist and non-socialist parties. The seats for each district are assigned according to the dHondt method
9.
Speaker of the Parliament of Finland
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The speaker of the Parliament of Finland, along with two deputy speakers, is elected by Parliament during the first plenary session each year. Speakers are chosen for a year at a time, the speaker and two deputy speakers are elected by parliament from among its members by secret ballot. Formally, the speaker ranks second in the protocol, after the president of Finland, an interim speaker is elected for the duration of government formation talks. Parliament of Finland Diet of Finland Lantmarskalks of the Finnish House of Nobility Media related to Speakers of the Parliament of Finland at Wikimedia Commons www. eduskunta. fi
10.
Finnish parliamentary election, 2007
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Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 18 March 2007. Early voting was possible from the 7–13 March, the 200 members of the Eduskunta were elected from 15 constituencies. Election themes included a reduction of tax and VAT on food. A proposal for a minimum income was introduced by some parties. Largest advertising budgets were spent by the Coalition Party and the Center Party with SDP far behind, altogether,2,004 candidates were nominated,799 of whom were women. About three-quarters of the candidates were nominated by parties currently represented in Parliament, the number of female MPs rose as 84 women were elected, now comprising a record 42% of the 200 MPs. According to the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the number of advance voters rose in comparison with the election in 2003. After the Tuesday before the Sunday election, when advance voting ended, the turnout had already reached 29. 2%. However, total voter turnout, at 67. 8%, fell short of the 2003 figure,69. 7%, many prominent MPs decided not to stand in the election. Some constituencies elect only six or seven MPs, resulting in an election threshold for a given party, favouring large parties. Because of this, the party leader of the Greens, Tarja Cronberg, lost her seat in the district of Northern Karelia, the constituencies of 2007 were mostly based on the old provinces, the largest difference was counting Helsinki as a separate district. The case has sparked a multi-party initiative that could result in a reform, the elections were a major victory for the opposition National Coalition Party under Jyrki Katainen. It gained ten seats and became the second-largest party in Finland, the main government partners, the Centre Party and the Social Democrats, both lost ground. The Centre Party, despite the loss, maintained its position as the biggest party in Parliament and it was also the only time, except for the parliamentary election of 1930, that the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party together have an absolute majority in Parliament. The outcome led to the formation of a new center-right government, winners also include the True Finns, who gained two seats. Party leader Timo Soini in particular took in a personal total of almost 20,000 votes. The Green League gained one seat with its best ever showing in parliamentary elections, the Swedish Peoples Party gained one seat as well, although losing votes compared to the 2003 elections. Incumbent Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, as party leader of the Centre Party, formed a new government with Centre Party, National Coalition and these parties have 125 seats out of 200 in the parliament
11.
Finnish parliamentary election, 2011
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Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 17 April 2011 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Advance voting, which included voting by Finnish expatriates, was held between 6 and 12 April with a turnout of 31. 2%. Small differences in the polls for the traditional three big parties and the surprising rise in support for the True Finns also electrified the atmosphere ahead of the election. The National Coalition Party also ended up as the biggest party for the first time in its history, the total turnout rose to 70. 5% from 67. 9% in the previous election, and corruption scandals also resulted in an anti-incumbency vote. The incumbent Minister of Finance Jyrki Katainen, as the leader of the biggest party in the new parliament, was tasked to form a new government, during government formation talks, the True Finns said they would withdraw if the government accepted the Portuguese bailout. Katainen then continued six-party talks that included the NCP, the SDP, the Left Alliance, Green League, Christian Democrats and the SPP. However, these negotiations ran aground on 1 June as the Social Democrats, negotiations were set to continue under Katainens proposed premiership, though the composition of the new government was not certain at the time. On 17 June, the six parties came to an agreement on forming a government, led by Katainen. The six parties announced their ministers designate between 17–20 June, on 22 June the new parliament elected Jyrki Katainen as prime minister. In June 2010, then-Prime Minister of Finland and leader of the Centre Party Matti Vanhanen said that he would be stepping down from both positions. At a party conference held between 11 and 13 June, then-Minister for Public Administration and Local Government Mari Kiviniemi was elected the new party leader. Vanhanen stepped down from the position of the Prime Minister a few days later and was replaced by Kiviniemi, the 200 members of the parliament are elected using the proportional DHondt method through which voters cast their vote for a candidate of their choosing within a party list. The country is divided into 15 electoral districts, the electoral districts are shown below. This was the first election since the Act on a Candidates Election Funding came into force in May 2009, both laws mandate the disclosure of the sources of campaign finance and expenses. Every candidate and party as a whole must disclose their source of funding, campaign funding may start six months before the election day and end two weeks after the election regardless of when the costs are actually paid. The candidates must file a report with the National Audit Office detailing their sources of all contributions of over €1,500 in value raised in support of the election campaign. The funds include expenses from the candidates own assets, loans taken out for the campaign, Candidates are barred from receiving anonymous contributions of over €1,500 in value. Former Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen began to work as the Chief Executive of Finnish Family Firms Association, the incumbent Speaker of Parliament Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party did not run for parliament, despite receiving a record number of votes in the 2007 election
12.
Finnish presidential election, 2012
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The presidential election was held in Finland in January and February. The first round took place on 22 January 2012 with advance voting on 11–17 January, the elected candidates term began on 1 March 2012 and will last until 2018. The incumbent Tarja Halonen was ineligible for re-election, having served the two terms. All the eight parties represented in the Parliament nominated a candidate during the latter half of 2011. The election marked an end to an era of Social Democratic presidents, the Social Democrats had held the office for a continuous period of 30 years. It was also the first time that a Green League candidate was on the runoff ballot, Sauli Niinistö won the second round with 62. 6% of the votes, while Pekka Haavisto received 37. 4% of the votes. The Presidents powers were curtailed in the reform in 2000. Currently the President leads the Finnish foreign policy together with the cabinet, EU affairs, however, fall to the Prime Ministers authority. The President has little domestic power and he or she can dissolve the parliament, but only at the Prime Ministers request. The President can choose not to ratify a bill, but this only returns it to parliament, the Presidents power to appoint officials has been reduced, but he or she still appoints all military officers as well as judges. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces, the President also has the power to pardon anyone convicted of a crime. With the curtailment of the Presidents formal powers, many analysts have emphasized the Presidents position as a leader of values, all eight parties represented in the Parliament nominated a candidate. Each candidate was given a number from 2 to 9 – voting took place by writing the number on the ballot paper. Constituency associations for independents or parties not represented in the Parliament must gather 20,000 signatures from voters in order to participate in the election. In 2012, no such associations participated, Pekka Hallberg, the President of the Supreme Administrative Court, considered running as a non-partisan candidate, but eventually withdrew. He declined presidential candidacy for any party in August 2011, alexander Stubb, Minister for Europe and Foreign Trade and former Minister for Foreign Affairs. Social Democratic Party Announced, then defeated in primary, Ilkka Kantola, Member of Parliament, tuula Haatainen, former Minister of Education, former Minister of Social Affairs and Health. Declined to run, The following persons initially expressed interest toward running or were mentioned in speculation, but did not sign up for the partys primary, Erkki Tuomioja, Minister for Foreign Affairs
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