The 2003 Finnish parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 16 March 2003, with the aim of determining the composition of the Finnish parliament, or Eduskunta, for the parliamentary period between 2003 and 2007. The largest winner of this election was the Centre Party (Keskusta) led by Anneli Jäätteenmäki, who passed the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) to become the largest party in the Eduskunta. Sunday is the first or second day of the week, between Saturday and Monday, and the second day of the weekend in some cultures. ... March 16 is the 75th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (76th in Leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An aerial view of Parliament of India at New Delhi. ... The Eduskunta in Finnish, or the Riksdag in Swedish, is the Parliament of Finland. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Centre Party (Finnish: Suomen Keskusta) is a centrist political party in Finland. ... Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Prime Minister 2003, MEP 2004- Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (Master of Laws, born February 11, 1955 in Lapua) was the first female Prime Minister of Finland, in office April 17th, 2003, to June 18th, 2003. ... The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) is one of the most influential political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the Coalition Party. ...

The election was held under the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, where the electorate voted directly for the individual candidate, but each vote also benefitted the candidate's party. This, once again, provoked some criticism from voters who felt their votes helped candidates they would not have liked to see in power, due to differences between candidates of the same party. Still, Finland has employed precisely the same method — in its original form — since the very beginning of the country's parliamentary history, and as the large majority of people are satisfied with the current system, it is unlikely to be changed in any way. The dHondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. ... Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems used in multiple-winner elections (e. ... In politics, an electorate is the group of entities entitled to vote in an election. ...

The next parliamentary election will be held on Sunday, 18 March 2007, when the members of the Eduskunta will be elected for their next term, up to 2011. The election may also be held earlier by order of the President of Finland. However, this can only be done at the request of the Prime Minister and after consultation with the parliamentary groups, and is highly unlikely. Sunday is the first or second day of the week, between Saturday and Monday, and the second day of the weekend in some cultures. ... March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 2007 (MMVII) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2011 (MMXI) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The President of Finland (Suomen Tasavallan Presidentti; Republiken Finlands President) is the Head of State of Finland. ...

Constituencies

For the purposes of parliamentary elections, Finland has been divided into fifteen constituencies. The boundaries of these constituencies correspond to those of administrative regions (in some cases several regions have been grouped into a single constituency), with the exception that the city of Helsinki serves as its own constituency, instead of being part of the Uusimaa region in this case. Each constituency elects a preset number of representatives to the Eduskunta, according to their population. The exact number of representatives each constituency elects may vary between elections, as their percentage of Finland's population varies, but the total number of elected representatives is always 200, of which 199 are from mainland. The autonomous region of Åland has been given a special status in that it will always have exactly one representative even if its population was not large enough (however during recent times, for example in 2003 elections, the population of Åland has in fact accounted almost exactly for 0.5% of total Finnish population, which would give it the one seat even without the special status). A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... Finland is divided into 20 regions (maakunta/landskap in Finnish/Swedish). ... Province Southern Finland Region Uusimaa Sub-region Helsinki City manager Jussi Pajunen Official languages Finnish, Swedish Area  - total  - land ranked 342nd 185. ... Uusimaa (Nyland) is the name of a geographical region in Finland which can refer to: Uusimaa - a historical Province of Sweden (Historical provinces of Finland) Uudenmaan ja Hämeen lääni - a former County of Sweden (Counties in Finland) Uudenmaan lääni - a former Province of Finland Uudenmaan maakunta - a current Region of... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... National motto: none Official language Swedish Capital Mariehamn Governor Peter Lindbäck Premier Roger Nordlund Total Area  - Land  - Water 6,784 km² 1,527 km² 5,258 km² Population  - Total (2005)  - Density 26,711 17. ...

Numbers of representatives per constituency, 2003-2007

The numbers of MPs per constituency (see Parliamentary constituencies of Finland) in the 2003 parliamentary elections were as follows: The Finnish Eduskunta, or Parliament, is made up of 200 members, elected from 15 separate geographic areas, or constituencies. ...

• Helsinki: 21
• Uusimaa: 33
• Finland Proper: 17
• Satakunta: 9
• Tavastia: 14
• Pirkanmaa: 18
• Kymi: 12
• Southern Savonia: 6
• Northern Savonia: 10
• North Karelia: 7
• Vaasa: 17
• Central Finland: 10
• Oulu: 18
• Lapland: 7
• Åland: 1

Helsinki is a constituency represented in the Finnish Eduskunta (parliament). ... Finland Proper (formerly Turku Province South) is a constituency represented in the Finnish Eduskunta (parliament). ...

Candidates and voting

Candidates for the parliamentary election were allowed to be set by political parties and electoral associations. Any Finnish citizen over the age of 18 was eligible for candidacy, apart from incapacitated persons and professional soldiers. Each party or electoral union was allowed to set a maximum of 14 candidates per constituency, or, in the case the constituency elected more than 14 members of parliament, an amount equal to that of the representatives elected. A political party is a political organization that subscribes to a certain ideology and seeks to attain political power within a government. ... Capacity and incapacity are legal terms that refer to the ability of persons to make certain binding dispositions of their rights, such as entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will. ... A soldier is a person who has enlisted with, or has been conscripted into, the armed forces of a sovereign country and has undergone training and received equipment (such as a uniform and weapon) to defend that country or its interests. ...

Each Finnish citizen aged 18 or over on the election day had the right to vote in the election, no matter where they lived. The electorate consisted of a total of 4,220,951 people, 4,015,552 of whom were resident in Finland and 205,399 abroad.

Election results

Total seats for each party

• Note 6: Includes the representative for Åland, and several parties that received less than 0.5% of the vote. See List of political parties in Finland for a more thorough list of election participators.

The Centre Party (Finnish: Suomen Keskusta) is a centrist political party in Finland. ... The Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP) is one of the most influential political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the Coalition Party. ... The National Coalition Party (Kansallinen Kokoomus or Samlingspartiet) is a political party in Finland. ... The Left Alliance or Vasemmistoliitto is a political party in Finland. ... The Green League (Finnish: Vihreä liitto, Swedish: Gröna förbundet), is a green political party in Finland. ... The Swedish Peoples Party (Svenska folkpartiet (SFP) in Swedish or Ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP) in Finnish) is a Swedish minority and mainly liberal party in Finland. ... The Christian Democrats (Kristillisdemokraatit or Kristdemokraterna) is a political party in Finland. ... True Finns or Perussuomalaiset is a populist party in Finland. ... The Communist Party of Finland (Finnish: Suomen kommunistinen puolue, Swedish: Finlands kommunistiska parti, abbreviated SKP) is a former political party endorsing communism in Finland. ... National motto: none Official language Swedish Capital Mariehamn Governor Peter Lindbäck Premier Roger Nordlund Total Area  - Land  - Water 6,784 km² 1,527 km² 5,258 km² Population  - Total (2005)  - Density 26,711 17. ... Political parties in Finland lists political parties in Finland. ...

Analysis

The Centre Party was a clear winner, as it gained the most new seats and became the largest party. This is credited mainly to Jäätteenmäki's powerful leadership and modernization of the party still often viewed as agrarian and conservative by many. However, the leading party of the former government, Social Democrats, also actually won some seats and increased its share of the vote, losing in the amount of total popular votes only by few thousands. This was especially interesting when compared to the results of previous elections in 1999, where SDP had managed to stay as the largest party, even though it lost 12 seats that time, while Centre gained a few. In 1999, SDP led by Paavo Lipponen had formed the government, but in 2003 Lipponen had to step aside when Centre Party began the negotiations for new government. This is thought to have caused embitterment within SDP, particularly Lipponen and his supporters. Paavo Lipponen Paavo Tapio Lipponen (b. ...

Apart from two main parties, the results weren't particularly ground-breaking. The National Coalition suffered a defeat, though not a huge one. Nonetheless it considered the results as a clear disapproval. The Green League achieved its best results ever, but the Swedish People's Party lost significantly. The Christian Democrats were a peculiar case this time, as they gained more votes but at the same time lost seats. This was partly because in 1999 and before Christian Democrats had been in a election coalition with Centre Party and benefited from this, while the Centre had actually lost seats due to this arrangement, and thus discontinued it starting from 2003 (the Finnish adaptation of d'Hondt method allows pre-election coalitions or cartels between two or more parties). The Left Alliance continued its slow decline, while the small populist faction, True Finns, did not do as well as some had expected.

Council of State

The Council of State, or the Finnish cabinet, was formed after the parliamentary election by the Centre Party, with its leader Anneli Jäätteenmäki as Prime Minister. A coalition government was formed, composing of the two largest parties of the Eduskunta, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Centre Party, and a minor coalition partner, the Swedish People's Party, who has a history of being a partner in government since 1976. The new cabinet had eight ministers from both the SDP and the Centre Party, and two ministers from the Swedish People's Party. The Council of State (Finnish: Valtioneuvosto, Swedish: StatsrÃ¥det) is Finlands cabinet; it directs the Government of Finland. ... A Cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of government, typically representing the executive branch. ... Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Prime Minister 2003, MEP 2004- Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (Master of Laws, born February 11, 1955 in Lapua) was the first female Prime Minister of Finland, in office April 17th, 2003, to June 18th, 2003. ... The Prime Minister (Finnish Pääministeri, Swedish: Statsminister) is the head of government in Finland. ... A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a cabinet in parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... A minister or a secretary is a politician who heads a government ministry or department (e. ...

However, this proved to be one of the shortest-lived cabinets in Finnish history, lasting only 69 days, after the Iraqgate scandal led to the government falling on 24 June 2003. A new cabinet was formed by the Centre Party's Matti Vanhanen, with largely the same composition as the previous cabinet. June 24 is the 175th day of the year (176th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 190 days remaining. ... 2003 (MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Matti Vanhanen Photo: Magnus Fröderberg/norden. ...

External link

• Parliamentary Elections at the Finnish Ministry of Justice's website.