The prime minister's appointment follows the
parliamentary election, which are scheduled to be held once every four years. Under the provisions of the
Constitution of Finland, the president nominates a prime minister after the parties in the
parliament have negotiated the distribution of seats in the new cabinet and the government's programme. The parliament must ratify the nominated prime minister with an
absolute majority in a confidence
vote without other candidates. If the nominee doesn't receive sufficient support, a new round of negotiations and a second nomination by the President follows. If the second nominee also fails to gain an absolute majority, a third vote is held, in which any member of parliament can nominate a candidate; in this round a
plurality is sufficient for election. The above procedure was first used to elect
Anneli Jäätteenmäki to the premiership in 2003. Previously it was assumed that the president would nominate the candidate who, in a third round of voting, would have gained a relative majority, this usually being the leader of the party with the largest seat share in parliament. Before the 2000 constitution was enacted, full formal powers to appoint the prime minister and the rest of the government had been the privilege of the president, who was free to diverge from
parliamentary principles, although the ministers appointed had to have the confidence of the parliament. Formally, the prime minister nominates the remaining members of the government, who are then, with the consent of Parliament, appointed by the president. In practice, the seats are divided between parties during the negotiations to form the government, so that the prime minister candidate must take into account the opinions of the participating parties and cannot nominate or remove whoever they wish. ==Salary and benefits==