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36-year-old MP elected as Speaker of Finnish Parliament

Xinhua, May 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Finns Party's 36-year-old MP Maria Lohela was elected as the Speaker of Parliament of Finland on Friday.

Mauri Pekkarinen, Center Party MP, was elected as the first Deputy Speaker, and Paula Risikko, National Coalition Party MP, the second Deputy Speaker.

The Finnish Parliament is unicameral. It is composed of 200 members. The term of office is four years.

The new Finnish Parliament was elected on April 19. The Center Party won 49 seats, the Finns Party 38 and the National Coalition Party 37 seats.

Lohela is one of the youngest speakers ever in Finland. She is a bachelor of arts majoring in English translation and interpretation.

Lohela has been an MP since 2011. After the general election held in April, she became Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the parliament.

Finland's first female Speaker is Riitta Uosukainen from the National Coalition Party, who chaired the parliament for 9 years from 1994 to 2003.

Juha Sipila, the newly-inaugurated Prime Minister, temporarily held the post of Speaker of Parliament during the past few weeks. Endit