The Sámi Parliament in Finland starts preparing for repeat election – Executive Board proposes reappointment of Election Committee for election in June

In a meeting held on 27 March 2024, the Executive Board of the Sámi Parliament in Finland considered as an additional item the decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court by which the Court ordered 65 people to be included in the 2023 electoral register for the Sámi Parliament in Finland and a repeat election of the Sámi Parliament to be held.

Pirita Näkkäläjärvi, President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, says that the Sámi Parliament will start preparing for the repeat election that is due to be held in June 2024.

– Time is short and the task is demanding, as the preparation for the election must start immediately. We are in a situation where the term of the Election Committee that organised the 2023 election ended on 31 December 2023, President Näkkäläjärvi describes.

Proposal for the reappointment of the previous Election Committee

The Executive Board of the Sámi Parliament in Finland has decided to propose to the Plenum of the Sámi Parliament in Finland that the Plenum reappoints the Election Committee that was responsible for the 2023 election for the conducting of the repeat election in June 2024. The next Plenum of the Sámi Parliament in Finland will be held on 12 April 2024.

– We would gladly trust the repeat election to the Election Committee of the previous term, President Näkkäläjärvi says.

According to the Act on the Sámi Parliament and the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, repeat elections shall be carried out by the same Election Committee as in the repealed elections, if possible.

According to the Executive Board, right to self-determination is still not realised with respect to the electoral register

The Executive Board began analysing the decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court in its recent meeting.

– It should be noted that in the view of the Executive Board of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, there continues to be injustice regarding the matter of the electoral register. The right of the Sámi to self-determination is still not realised, even after the latest decisions issued by the Supreme Administrative Court, President Näkkäläjärvi states.

President Näkkäläjärvi points out that the votes for the Supreme Administrative Court’s important yearbook decision KHO 2024:44 were 5 to 2, and the decision states that judicial uncertainty is related to the matter.

– They key to solving the persisting human rights violations stated by UN treaty bodies is to amend the Act on the Sámi Parliament to correspond to human rights obligations binding on Finland. This will help resolve and calm the divisive situation, President Näkkäläjärvi says.

The Executive Board of the Sámi Parliament in Finland will continue to analyse the decisions issued by the Supreme Administrative Court and will later decide on any further measures.

According to the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, new nomination of candidates in the election must be carried out for the repeat election. Based on a preliminary estimate, candidate applications must be submitted by 1 May 2024. The repeat election will be held from 1 to 30 June 2024.

Both the Act on the Sámi Parliament and the recent decisions of the Supreme Administrative Court state that the members of the Sámi Parliament in Finland, deputy members and members of other bodies, who have been elected by the election repealed shall remain in their duties until the results of the repeat election have been confirmed and the Government has appointed members of the Sámi Parliament in Finland to their positions in accordance with the new results.

Further information:

Pirita Näkkäläjärvi
President of the Sámi Parliament in Finland
+358 (0)44 7533 766
pirita.nakkalajarvi@samediggi.fi