‘I am human and need some joy and fun amidst these dark clouds’, Sanna Marin says in tearful address
Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Wednesday talked about her right to a private life after criticism sparked by a video of the 36-year-old partying. She also strongly defended her work record, saying that she has never missed a single day of work.
“I am a human. During these dark times, I too need some joy, light and fun. And that involves all sorts of photos and videos which I would not like to see, and I know you would not like to see. And still we are all shown that kind of material,” 36-year-old Marin said, trying to fight back tears at her Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) event in Lahti city, north of Helsinki.
“It’s private, it’s joy, and it’s life,” she said. “But I haven’t missed a single day of work.”
“Less than the distance from Helsinki to Utsjoki, we have European friends, in Ukraine and Kyiv and elsewhere, and they have a much harder time,” she added.
Referring to the video, Marin said the last week had been “quite difficult”.
“I want to believe that people will look at what we do at work rather than what we do in our spare time,” she said.
Marin has been at the centre of a controversy ever since a video showing her dancing and partying leaked last week. There are some people who slammed Marin calling it “inappropriate behaviour for a prime minister”, while there are others who defended her right to enjoy a private life with friends.
Certain netizens also said that the party involved drugs, but Marin called all such comments untrue.
In a bid to clear up any suspicion, she took a drug test on Friday and subsequently tested negative.
Meanwhile, Marin found herself caught in another matter and was forced to apologise for a photo taken at her residence in July of two women kissing, lifting their tops to bare their torsos and covering their breasts with a sign that says “Finland”.
The picture was first published on a TikTok account by a former Miss Finland contestant and social media influencer, who appears in the photo.
While her party supported her during the video controversy, local media reports suggest that the new picture this week has led to increasing criticism within the Social Democrats.
“Sanna Marin is highly popular, but there is growing frustration within the party at the repeated scandals,” Helsingin Sanomat newspaper wrote on Tuesday, after talking with SDP MPs.
(With inputs from agencies)
