Sanna Marin – Finland’s 34 year old new Prime Minister
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When Sanna Marin, 34, was sworn into office on Tuesday, she became the world’s youngest prime minister, a fact that drew international attention this week when her party elected her as Finland’s next leader.
Marin was transport and communications minister when she was called back from Brussels to Helsinki by her Social Democratic Party, whose leader Antti Rinne was in trouble over his handling of a labor dispute at the state-owned postal service. He stepped down on December 3 — awkward timing for Finland, which holds the presidency of the Council of the EU until the end of the year.
The New York Times reports that while the world is just becoming acquainted with the new, left-leaning leader, Ms. Marin has been a rising star in Finland’s Social Democratic Party since first entering Parliament in 2015. For many, she was a natural choice for her new role.“She doesn’t come out of nowhere,” said Johanna Kantola, a professor of gender studies at Finland’s Tampere University. “And she is quite well-liked.”
Marin takes up the leadership at a volatile, polarized time in Finnish politics. In elections in April, the Social Democrats only narrowly edged out the right-wing, populist Finns Party, winning the premiership for the first time in 16 years, but polls indicate that the Finns Party has gained in popularity since then.In those elections, support for centrist parties fell, and no party won even 18 percent of the vote. When Mr. Rinne ran into troubles, none of his coalition partners wanted to risk bringing down the new coalition and rolling the dice on another election.
In the relatively polite world of Finnish politics, she has won plaudits from both allies and opponents for her straight-talking style, although those on the right say her left-wing ideology is too dogmatic and question her ability to build bridges and compromise.
Marin heads a government that is remarkably female and young. The other four parties in the government are led by women, three of whom are, like the prime minister, younger than 35.
Feminists across countries applauded and congratulated the new prime minister inspired what might promise more change and innovative solutions to come. Others were more critical. How could such “unexperienced” woman be entrusted with all that power. Sexist tendencies could also be observed: maybe not unexpected, some (mainstream) media coverage commented on the looks of the new Finnish Prime Minister. The German Tagesschau, for example, received much push-back on social media for having referred to Prime Minister Sanna Marin as ”beautiful & young” (“hübsch & jung”).
Speaking to reporters shortly after being sworn in, Ms. Marin waved off questions about the global interest in her new appointment, saying she was focused on governing.
“My thoughts have been in the proceedings and I have not followed the international and national media coverage,” she said. “We have promised change. Now we need action. I believe that trust will return through action.”
