The women of Finland are backing their prime minister, Sanna Marin, by posting videos and memes of themselves on social media showing them dancing and having a good time, accompanied with #solidaritywithsanna.
Marin faced backlash last week after two private videos were leaked — the first showing the 36-year old dancing and laughing with her friends at a private house party and another where she appears to be dancing intimately with Finnish pop star Olavi Uusivirta at a private VIP room of a famous night-club in Helsinki.
Last week, after the two separate footages were leaked, several commentators criticised her “unsuitable behaviour”, questioning her political judgement.
Marin, Finland’s youngest-ever prime minister, publicly defended her actions, saying: “I had some time off and I spent it with my friends. And I didn’t do anything illegal.”
She insisted she did nothing but “dance, sing, hug my friends and drink alcohol” and that no government meetings had taken place that weekend.
“I hope that in the year 2022 it’s accepted that even decision-makers dance, sing and go to parties,” Marin continued.
“It’s up to the voters [to decide] what they think about it.”
“These videos are private,” she continued. “They were recorded in private premises. I am displeased that they have been published. What they are about is that I was spending an evening with friends, partying, admittedly boisterously, dancing and singing.”
“[I am] the same person as I have been until now… I have a family life, I have a work life, and I have free time to spend with my friends. I’m pretty sure that’s the same as many people my age.”
One male MP, Mikko Kärna posted on Twitter that Marin should undergo a voluntary drug test.
“Just for the sake of the discussion in public, it would be wise if the Prime Minister voluntarily went through a drug screening, the results of which would be made public by an independent body,” he tweeted.
“The people are also allowed to expect this from their PM.”
“I have nothing to hide,” Marin told reporters. “I haven’t used drugs, so it’s not a problem to go for a test. But I also think it’s quite unusual that something like this is required.”
She later confirmed that she had indeed taken a drug test for her “own legal protection” — the results would be made public in the coming days.
“Though I consider the demand for a drug test unjust, for my own legal protection and to clear up any doubts, I have taken a drug test on Saturday, the results of which will come in about a week,” Marin said.
Professor Anu Koivunen from Finland’s University of Turku, believes sexism did not cause the latest backlash over the leaked footage, though the leak should serve as a warning for the PM that she should be more careful with the friends she surrounds herself with.
“That she didn’t restrain herself in company where she cannot trust everyone in the room,” Koivonen told The Guardian. “I think that’s the main issue at the moment.”
One sympathetic citizen from Helsinki, told The Associated Press that Marin had “taken [a] very difficult job during a very difficult time”.
“She has made a first-class job … what she’s doing in her free time, that’s not our business,” Jori Korkman said.
University student Pyry Jantahuhta, described the PM’s partying as “all right”.
“Everyone has the right to have a good time,” he added.
Several others came to Marin’s defence; one supporter tweeted: “I prefer a prime minister who dances and sings to politicians who steal and lie. Full support for Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland.”
Another wrote: “Boris Johnson has serial affairs and an unknown number of love-children and that’s absolutely fine, Boris will be Boris. But Sanna Marin dances with men in a nightclub and it’s front page news and grounds to resign? Misogyny and hypocrisy alive and well.”
Yet another said: “Political leaders do party. They also get drunk sometimes, snore, fall down, laugh, stain their clothes, dance, puke. They are human beings. Get over it.”
Olavi Uusivirta, the 39-year old Finnish singer who was seen dancing closely with Marin in one of the videos, denied rumours that he was having an affair with the prime minister.
“There has been speculation in the public about the quality of the relationship between me and Prime Minister Sanna Marin,” Uusivirta posted on Instagram.
“Hand on heart I can just say it like it is: we are friends and nothing inappropriate has happened. I won‘t comment on the matter anymore publicly.”
This is not the first time Marin has sparked controversy; last December, she was forced to apologise to the public for staying out until 4am clubbing without her work mobile phone — a decision that caused her to miss a text informing her she had been a COVID-19 close contact.
“I didn’t have a government phone with me on Saturday night, but a parliamentary work phone, which I mainly use to handle work tasks,” Marin wrote on a Facebook post.
“I should have used better judgment Saturday night and double check the instructions I received. I’m really sorry that I didn’t understand to act like this.”
Last week’s controversy coincided with Marin’s decision to halve the number of visas issued to Russians from 1000 per day to 500, starting next month.