Claim: Mai Ahmed Fatty, Leader of the Gambia Moral Congress, asserts that Finland has no term limits.
Verdict: False. The assertion by Mai Ahmed Fatty, leader of the opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), that Finland lacks term limits is false.
Full Text:
On Thursday, December 11, 2025, during an appearance on Kerr Fatou, a well-known online media outlet on the program “Today on Kerr Fatou,” Mai Ahmed Fatty, Party Leader of the opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), stated that Finland does not impose presidential term limits.
“There are no term limits in Finland,” he claimed. Watch from 1:04:08 – 1:08:12 mins.
While addressing questions about the issue of term limits, Mai Fatty referenced several countries that supposedly do not have such restrictions.
He further argued that term limits are not a determinant of a successful economy or political system, mentioning that China has removed term limits from its constitution and is developing more effectively as a result.
He stated, “I have not seen it scientifically proven anywhere in the world that term limits guarantee a country’s advancement.”
Mai Fatty contended that term limits are absent in countries that are admired globally, pointing out that Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Singapore, Denmark, Luxembourg, Pakistan, and India do not have term limits.
Verification:
To verify the claims made by the Party Leader of the Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), Mai Ahmed Fatty, during an interview with Kerr Fatou, which had 1.1k comments, 49 shares, and 312 likes at the time of this publication, Info-Check undertook an investigation to confirm the facts.
Our findings indicated that, while many of the countries mentioned by the GMC leader as lacking term limits are indeed accurate, Finland has a term limit of two terms of six years for its president.
According to Finland’s constitution, an individual may be elected for only two consecutive terms and cannot serve more than two terms of six years each.
This term limitation was enacted in 1991, and President Martti Ahtisaari, elected in 1994, is the first president to whom this rule applies.
Finland’s Constitution of 1999, with amendments through 2011, clearly outlines this in Chapter 5: The President of the Republic and the Government, Section 54.
Info-Check’s research further confirmed the facts regarding Finland’s term limits in a document that places Finland among countries with such restrictions, ranking it as number 20 on the list of countries.
A document from the Council of Europe, dated March 2, 2018, by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), indicates “Constitutional Provisions limiting Presidential terms in Venice Commission member states and other selected countries with a directly or indirectly elected head of state.”
Conclusion:
Based on Info-Check’s findings, the assertion made by Mai Ahmed Fatty, leader of the opposition Gambia Moral Congress (GMC), that “Finland has no term limits” is false and misleading.
By Momodou Janneh