Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has gained support from her citizens following a political backlash when video footage of her private party was leaked to the public, prompting her rivals to demand a drug test.
Women were seen dancing on social media platforms to show their support for Marin and to remind the world that politicians are people too. The situation comes after the prime minister's political opponents berated her last week after the leak of the videos of her private party with friends.
Finnish Prime Minister
Marin's opponents called her decision to party during the country's economic crisis unprofessional and irresponsible. Furthermore, some critics suggested that the prime minister was abusing substances and demanded she takes a drug test to which she tested negative.
However, many supporters of Marin rushed to the dance floor and posted videos on social media tagged with #SolidarityWithSanna to call out what they called unfair, sexist treatment of Marin.
They argued that the criticism the prime minister received has been unjustifiably doled out because she was a young woman in a sphere dominated by older men. The clips have already been viewed more than 100,000 times on TikTok alone, as per the Washington Post.
Rikke Dal Stottrup and her staff at the popular Danish women's magazine Alt for Damerne, upon hearing the news, remembered blond Helle Thorning-Schmidt. The latter was Denmark's prime minister from 2011 to 2015 who faced similar bashing for what she wore when she held office.
Stottrup said, "It seems like certain people still today have a hard time comprehending the fact that you can be both a young woman and a competent politician at the same time." Amid the controversy surrounding Marin last week, employees at Alt for Damerne scoured their devices for their own dance clips and posted them on the magazine's official account.
According to CNN, Marin felt compelled to apologize for the video of her partying being posted online. The Finnish prime minister was nominated to her position in December 2019, when she was 34 years old, making her the youngest head of state in the world.
Controversial Party
During Marin's three-year tenure, she has managed to steer her country capably through including the domestic COVID-19 pandemic response and Moscow's saber-rattling as Helsinki applied for NATO membership in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The prime minister has also proved to be a skilled operator in handling the more mundane aspects of running the country and navigating domestic politics. Based on polls, Marin's numbers have been as high as 90%, although late last year they hovered around the 50% mark.
When she came into office, Marin said that her goal was to help foster a more egalitarian political culture. She has since become an object of fascination on the international stage, with Germany's Bild newspaper calling her "the world's coolest politician."
Marin also apologized for a controversial photo that was taken at her residence that showed two women kissing, lifting their tops to bare their torsos, and covering their breasts with a sign that says "Finland," The Guardian reported.
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