Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the closing of the 1999-2002 electoral period, 11 March 2003

(Translation)

I would like to thank the Speaker and the entire Parliament for your good cooperation during the past electoral period. As you noted, Madame Speaker, a lot has been achieved, but there is still plenty of work for the next Parliament to do.

This electoral period has been truly historic in many respects. This Parliament finally approved independent Finland's second Constitution. We retired the old Constitution which had served for over 80 years.

Three years is too short a time to evaluate the new Constitution in depth. For my own part I can say - and here I agree with the Speaker's evaluation - that the Constitution has worked well in all essentials.

The Constitution came into force at the same time that I took office. As President I have strived to implement the Constitution to the best of my ability.

Obeying the letter and the spirit of the Constitution requires that the representatives of the top branches of government are strong and law-abiding, but also able to cooperate. Good will and the ability to cooperate have been displayed by all those concerned and I believe this will continue in the future.

The Parliament which is now closing has, like its predecessor, been able to give its confidence to the Government for the whole electoral period. Long-term policies have facilitated the maintaining of both economic and social stability.

After the elections we will for the first time apply the provisions in the new Constitution regarding the formation of the Government. Parliament is responsible for finding an effective Government base and Government programme and for selecting the prime minister. As President my task is to follow the parliamentary groups' negotiations concerning the Government programme and the composition of the Government, since on the basis of the result of these negotiations and after hearing the Speaker of Parliament, I will notify Parliament of the nominee for prime minister. This nominee will be elected prime minister if his or her election is supported by more than half of the votes cast openly in Parliament.

The Parliament which is now concluding its work consists of 200 MPs who have worked to build a better society. Economic development has a key influence on Finnish prosperity. The Government's and Parliament's possibilities to influence national and particularly international economic development are limited. According to international comparisons, Finland has succeeded in making its society both competitive and socially fair. Maintaining positive economic and job development will be an important task for the next Parliament and Government as well.

Members of Parliament know very well that a fair society does not create itself. It is not produced by markets, but building it always requires political choices, decisions and legislation. Welfare services are an investment in the future. With these investments our society can remain on the path of fair and socially sustainable development in an internationalizing world.

I would like to mention two examples from Parliament's work during this electoral period: the right to free preschool education for all six-year-olds whose parents want it and everyone's right to publicly supported or organized dental care.

Offering educational opportunities regardless of income and wealth increases people's choices and helps prevent marginalization. It is also a precondition for Finns' welfare. Free preschool education is an excellent extension to the Finnish school system which has been built during the course of generations. It will make our school system, which has done extremely well in international comparisons, even better.

In addition to the Finnish education system, developing health care has also been a major national project. Maintaining and developing it is a demanding task. Extending publicly supported dental care to all age groups is a significant step.

Internationalism has also increased in MPs' own work. Monitoring and influencing the work of the European Union have become part of everyday life. The enlargement of the EU has taken place under the influence of this Parliament, although actual agreements regarding this matter will be up to the next Parliament. Parliament is also directly involved in the Convention on the future of the EU. This is a challenge and an opportunity. You are involved in presenting alternatives for a joint European future as well as the position of national parliaments in the European Union.

When it ended Iraq's illegal occupation of Kuwait 12 years ago, the United Nations required Iraq to give up its weapons of mass destruction and related programmes. Iraq's leadership has constantly defied UN resolutions and has not consented to disarm. The international community has tried in many ways to get Iraq to comply with UN resolutions. Up to now the results have been meagre. Furthermore Iraq's leadership has not wished to take full advantage of the food for oil programme but has preferred to let its people suffer. The humanitarian situation in Iraq is already serious.

When I met United States President George W. Bush in the White House nearly a year ago, he strongly voiced his concern over the threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. I told him at that time that Iraq's disarmament of possible weapons of mass destruction should take place under the UN. I know that the message of all the European governments and heads of state to President Bush was the same. We can be satisfied that President Bush reached this same conclusion last September. During the past half year the UN has been in a key position in disarming Iraq.

Disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction is a challenge for the entire international community. Iraq's very sluggishly growing will to cooperate has made the task more difficult. Everyone wants to avoid war, but unfortunately it has not been possible to rule it out.

Finland's position on the Iraq crisis has always been clear:

Iraq must relinquish its weapons of mass destruction and related programmes according to UN Security Council resolutions. Responsibility for disarming belongs to Iraq; the task of the UN inspectors is to confirm disarmament.

Possible further action against Iraq should be decided by the UN Security Council. The Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. We support the Security Council and its decisions and the use of force without the Security Council's authorization cannot be approved.

We support the continuation of the inspectors' work as long as this work is meaningful and beneficial. The Security Council must consider time resources on the basis of inspectors' reports.

Disarming Iraq of weapons of mass destruction may require military action. Such action should be authorized by the Security Council. Finland will not participate in the use of force. We have been ready to investigate possibilities to provide humanitarian aid through the UN, however, as in the past.

We probably face a worsening crisis. It is of primary importance for the international community to support the UN with every means at its disposal. Finland will do its part in this respect.

Fortunately the past four years have not been only terrorism and the threat of war, but also development and cooperation. At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, nearly two hundred political leaders made a commitment to promoting security, stability and prosperity around the world.

The most concrete part of the Millennium Declaration is the development goals which call for us to reduce extreme poverty by half, to promote equality, to ensure primary schooling for all, to reduce child mortality and to ensure environmental sustainability, among other things. Achieving all this requires commitment to a global partnership for development.

Parliament has been actively involved in implementing the Millennium goals, but we can do more with regard to development cooperation funds, for example. I would like to express my appreciation to MPs not only for the work they have done according to Parliament's Rules of Procedure in this building, but also for the work they have done as representatives of the Finnish nation in forums around the world to build a better and fairer world.

Defending development cooperation funds or human rights is not just a demonstration of solidarity. It is also an investment in our own and our children's future. A world in which the majority of people live in poverty while a small minority lives in overabundance cannot last forever. We have learned in Finland that we can build our welfare only on fair and equal social development. The same is true globally.

I thank Parliament for its work on behalf of the nation and proclaim Parliament closed for this electoral period.