In recent parliamentary elections in Finland the number of women in parliament increased significantly from 75 to 84 among the 200 members. It makes 42 % and thus Finland is the third country after Rwanda and Sweden in the statistics on the proportion of women in the parliaments of Inter Parliamentary Union. The percentage of voters was low, only 67,8 %. Percentage of women voting has been higher than men for years and so it was now, too.

Now the process of building the Cabinet according to the outcome of elections is completed. The composition of the new Cabinet of twenty members is 12 women and 8 men, which makes 60 % of women. This implies that Finland has the cabinet of the highest proportion of women in the whole world.   

In the first Inter-Nordic review on women in the politics “Unfinished Democracy” published by the Nordic Council in 1985 the questions were asked:

Does it make a difference? Does anything really new come into politics when the number and proportion of women increases? Do women enter politics only after they have adopted an elitist political lifestyle and methods? And what if the proportion of women reaches the magic number of 50 % and nothing happens?

Now it will be seen!