| 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.
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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.
There are 12 ministries[1] in the government. As there are more members (ministers) in the Council of State than ministries, some are headed by more than one minister.
| 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 |
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