Chamber:
	Eduskunta – Riksdagen
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	16 March 2003
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Finns went to the polls on 16 March 2003 after an electoral campaign focused on unemployment, tax cuts, the country's possible entry into NATO, as well as the criticism of the government's stance on Iraq by the opposition Centre Party. The leader of this party, Ms. Anneli Jaatteenmaki, accused the four-party ruling coalition of doing too little to push for a peaceful resolution of the Iraq crisis, while Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen declared that Finland wanted a UN-brokered solution. At 69.70 per cent, voter turnout was slightly higher than in the 1999 elections (68 per cent). The Prime Minister's Social Democrats narrowly lost the elections to the Centre Party, as the latter gained just two more seats than Mr. Lipponen's but not an absolute majority. The Centre Party enjoyed the greatest gain in voter support, obtaining 24.7 per cent of the vote, i.e. 55 of 200 seats, while the Social Democratic Party won 24.5 per cent with 53 seats. Unlike in the previous elections, held four years before, the Social Democratic Party managed to increase both its vote and the number of seats won, an increase of two seats versus the seven extra won by the Centre Party, making the latter the largest party in Parliament. All other members of the outgoing four-party coalition government lost ground. The big loser was the moderate conservative National Coalition Party, which lost six of the 46 eats it had obtained in the 1999 elections. The Left Alliance went from 20 seats to 19, while the Swedish People's Party slid from 11 seats to just eight. The Greens (who were initially in the Lipponen government but resigned in May 2002 over the decision to build a fifth nuclear reactor) were among the winners, as the party picked up three more seats to reach a total of 14. Following government coalition talks between the Centre Party, the Social Democratic Party and the Swedish People's Party a new Centre Party-led Cabinet was sworn in on 15 April 2003, with Ms. Anneli Jäätteenmäki as the new Prime Minister, making her the first woman Prime Minister in the country's history. In June 2003, Ms. Jäätteenmäki resigned after allegations that she had illegally obtained secret documents on the Iraq war while she was opposition leader. Mr. Matti Vanhanen took over as Prime Minister.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (16 March 2003): Elections results
Number of registered electors	4 015 552
Voters	2 797 596 (70 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	5 839
Valid votes	2 791 757

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
Center Party (KESK)	234	689 391	24.69
Social Democratic Party (SDP)	223	683 223	24.47
National Coalition Party (KOK)	222	517 904	18.55
Left-Wing Alliance (VL)	204	277 152	9.93
Greens	209	223 267	8.00
Swedish People's Party (SFP)	89	128 824	4.61
Christian Democrats (KD)	171	148 987	5.34
True Finns	65	43 816	1.57
Others	612	78 896	2.83

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Center Party (KESK)	55
Social Democratic Party (SDP)	53
National Coalition Party (KOK)	40
Left-Wing Alliance (VL)	19
Greens	14
Swedish People's Party (SFP)	8
Christian Democrats (KD)	7
True Finns	3
Others	1

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	125
Women:	75
Percent of women:	37.50

Distribution of seats according to age:
21 to 30 years :	6
31 to 40 years:	40
41 to 50 years:	50
51 to 60 years:	86
61 to 70 years:	18