Finnish Ambassador meets Thamilchelvan

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 October 2003, 10:20 GMT]
Mr. Mikko Pyhala, Ambassador, Asia and Oceania, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland expressed his country's support to the peace process in a meeting he had with the Head of Political Wing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), S.P. Thamilchelvan at the Kilinochchi Peace Secretariat Building today, sources said.

Thamilchelvan thanked the Ambassador for the assistance Government of Finland gave the LTTE's Political Affairs Committee to educate them in the Finnish system of Government and the contribution of the Finnish members in the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM), the LTTE Peace Secretariat website said.







Finland is a western parliamentary democracy with a president as the head of state and with a multi-party political system. The President is elected by the people for a six-year term. The unicameral parliament of 200 members is elected for four years at a time by and from citizens over 18 years of age. The Government is appointed by the President and most enjoy the confidence of Parliament.

Finland works in close relationship with her Scandinavian neighbors Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The political system is similar to that of the other Scandinavian countries in its institutional arrangements. There is no passport requirements for citizens of the five Nordic countries travelling within Scandinavia. Finland was the second country in the world to grant women the right to vote, and was one of the first countries to introduce the eight-hour working day. As elsewhere in Scandinavia, there is free medical care and free education. Finland has two state churches; the Evangelical-Lutheran Church (87.6%) and the Orthodox Church (1.1%).