Are heads of government allowed to party? Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has faced massive criticism after a video was published online of her apparently intoxicated dancing wildly in an apartment with friends. The video is said to have been made a few weeks ago.
In the compilation, Marin raps a song, dances through a room and poses for the camera. Many Twitter users reacted outraged to the video.
The 36-year-old is the youngest head of government in Finland. Marin had previously been criticized for going to festivals or clubs too often.
Finnish sports talk show host Aleksi Valavuori wrote: “Some say she’s cool…maybe among other teenagers. But a responsible leader for a country in crisis? She is by far the most incompetent Prime Minister we have ever had. She has no idea. Please take your leather jacket and stand back.”
A short time later, the Finnish politician Jiri Keronen published a screenshot of the video, on which white “lines” can be seen in the background. According to reports, calls for cocaine could also be heard in the background of the video.
Valavuori then demanded that Marin and everyone present in the video take a drug test. If she fails to do so, “it is clear that drugs were used at private parties held by the Prime Minister’s circle of friends and that the Prime Minister herself knows about it.”
Other Twitter users, on the other hand, rated the video positively. “Sanna Marin is becoming a symbol of progress and I like it,” writes one person. “If we had always asked these Conservatives for permission, there would be no women prime ministers. I am proud to show this video to my friends and colleagues. The world and ‘acceptable values’ are changing.”
Marin herself commented on the release of the party video on Thursday before a meeting of her party. The Finnish TV broadcaster Yle reported that, according to Marin, the videos were made a few weeks earlier at a private party. She was also of the opinion that the videos would remain private. “It annoys me that the videos have become public,” Marin said.
No matter what she took: I bet she can still remember more afterwards than our Chancellor.
Nevertheless, she does not rate her behavior as problematic. In particular, she decisively rejects the allegation of drug use. “I haven’t taken any drugs, so I have no problem taking a drug test,” the 36-year-old politician told journalists in Helsinki on Thursday. Videos had previously been shared online networks showing Marin partying with a group of people.
The videos are private, they were recorded in private places, Marin explained. “I spent an evening with friends,” she added. The head of government added that alcohol had been drunk at the party she attended – but denied having taken drugs or having witnessed the use of drugs by others.
Center Party MP Mikko Karna, one of Marin’s coalition partners, tweeted on Thursday that it would be “wise” for Marin to voluntarily take a drug test.
