​Members of Parliament,

During the electoral term now drawing to its close, we have all witnessed and experienced exceptionally strong mutual cooperation and the feeling that we are all in this together, going through difficult and open discussions and voting on our options. This term was one characterised by crises, and the new Parliament will begin its work as Russia's war in Ukraine continues on day by day. We could say that, at times, the crises both brought us together but also put parliamentarism on hold for the entire term.

Due to the pandemic, we were forced to regulate and restrict the lives and freedoms of citizens. In particular, the pandemic affected the operations and parliamentarism of Parliament in a highly exceptional way. For a long time, we operated on a voluntary basis within the framework of the participation restrictions that we agreed amongst ourselves and, consequently, the Government did not make politically contradictory proposals during that time. Anyone in this hall could have disputed our mutual recommendations, and they would have had the freedom and rights of a Member of Parliament behind them. The same thing I just said in my closing speech regarding the ex-post evaluation of the overall management of COVID-19 should be carried out for all of Parliament. The team in charge of COVID-19 assembled over 50 times, and all decisions were made unanimously. But unanimity does not always tell us whether the decisions made at the time ultimately turn out to be the right ones or not. We can be pleased that Parliament and all its bodies and groups retained their operational capacity during the pandemic and, during the most difficult times, not a single chain of infection was created within our walls. For this, I extend my sincere gratitude to the personnel for their meticulous work and care. You enable the government body to retain its operational capacity.

However, the pandemic gave rise to the idea that we may sometimes face a situation where in-person meetings truly become impossible. We now have experience in such situations, and we should continue to be prepared.

Russia's cruel war of conquest in Ukraine led to many conclusions made with considerable urgency. We were prepared to support with weapons a country in the midst of war, we considerably increased our own military budget allocations and we decided to apply for NATO membership. Cooperation between our system and institutions demonstrated that our constitution is one devised with great care. In particular, I want to highlight the importance and role of political parties and groups in decision-making.

The decisive discussions and decision-making that led to where we are now took place both within the parties and between them. Our democracy consists of more than just the voters and Parliament; we have a three-way system, one end of which are politically organised parties. Openly supporting their work does not always please everyone, but the parties are a necessary and valuable part of our democracy. We should do continuous future-oriented work within their framework. During this past term, we have also encouraged our library institution to open its doors even more extensively for democratic work.

Parliamentary work was also significantly reformed during the term, partly owing to the new working methods required due to the pandemic. However, outside of forms of remote work, the reform of committee work remains incomplete. Over the decades, the total number of committees has increased, as has the workload of the committees. We have representatives who even have to deal with being members of committees that hold meetings at the same time. Multiple government proposals also expired due to time running out in the committees.

In many countries, the representatives are members of a single committee and allocate their focus there. I encourage the upcoming Parliament and its parliamentary groups, before the committee memberships are filled, to discuss amongst themselves the reform of committee work from the perspective of the representatives. A model of a new system exists but requires some fine-tuning.

I know that many of us would like to develop our work so that they could be a member of just one legislation-focused committee, for whose meetings they would have more time, including lunch breaks, for example. On the other hand, there are those who would prefer to attend the meetings of two committees due to their multi-faceted interests. However, it does not serve our work to have members with 150 absences from committee work due to the physical impossibility of being in multiple places at the same time. As we have decided to add new committees with increased memberships to the list one after the other, at some point we also have to decide where it all leads.

With the elections, many who have served our country for a very long time, in addition to others with fewer years of service, will now be leaving parliamentary work. For many, the citizens let them continue their service and, for some, the elections will lead to disappointment. I want to express my deep gratitude to everyone now leaving parliamentary work behind. And to those seeking to continue their service: when you let the citizens decide upon your work and future ideals, you are true knights of democracy. While the people within our walls may change, the work of our institution continues for the betterment of our country.

It has been a great honour – and I am now also speaking on behalf of Speaker Vehviläinen and the Deputy Speakers of the electoral term – to serve this institution and, through it, the Finnish people.