Finnish PM finds friends in flashmobs
Women in Nordic countries are participating in an online flashmob “in solidarity” with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who faces criticism over private videos that were leaked online last week.
Finnish and Danish women have uploaded videos of themselves dancing and partying to YouTube and other social media sites, tagging the posts with #SolidaritywithSanna.
Globally, politicians have come to the defense of Marin, with Australian MP Fiona Patten writing that Finland should consider itself a “pretty lucky country” if the worst thing its prime minister has done is “letting off steam at a party.”
The outpouring of support comes after the 36-year-old had two private videos leaked, one showing her partying with a group of friends and another in which she is dancing in a club with Finnish singer Olavi Uusivirta.
“Solidarity with Sanna”Women in Finland are posting videos of themselves partying while tagging Prime Minister Sanna Marin. pic.twitter.com/Bl1M4r0bky
— Megha Mohan (@meghamohan) August 20, 2022
The videos sparked controversy after some viewers suggested that Marin’s behavior was “unsuitable” for a nation’s leader, while others noticed that people in the background of one of the videos could be heard discussing cocaine, prompting speculation that Marin had been doing drugs during her night out.
Marin denied any wrongdoing after the videos became public but lamented the violation of her privacy. She insists that the party took place at a private residence several weeks ago and that she expected her off-duty time to remain confidential.
“I had some time off and I spent it with my friends. And I didn’t do anything illegal,” maintained Marin, who said she did nothing but “dance, sing, hug my friends and drink alcohol.” She has also pointed out that no government meetings were planned or took place over that weekend.
“I hope that in the year 2022 it’s accepted that even decision-makers dance, sing and go to parties,” she continued. “It’s up to the voters [to decide] what they think about it.”
Nevertheless, a number of Finnish politicians have voiced concerns about possible damage to the prime minister’s image. MP Mikko Karna suggested that Marin should voluntarily take a drug test and make the results public simply to leave no room for speculation.
Although the prime minister blasted the request as “unjust,” she has since undergone a drug screening for her “own legal protection” and said that the results should come in about a week.
