Target of criticism following the broadcast on social networks of a private video where we see her dancing during an evening with friends, the Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, announced Friday August 19 to have submitted to a drug test. A way for the 36-year-old head of government, from the ranks of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), to respond to the various rumors accusing her, among other things, of having taken narcotics during this evening.
” I have nothing to hide. I haven’t used drugs, and therefore I have no problem getting tested.”she had declared the day before to the press. “I did nothing illegal”, repeated Sanna Marin on Friday at a press conference, claiming to have never taken drugs, including in her youth. The result of the screening test will be known next week, she said.
Two private videos leaked in the same week
The controversy swells since the broadcast of two videos. Shared widely on social media and published by various outlets, the premiere shows the head of government dancing and singing on camera with a group of people, including Finnish celebrities, in what looks like an apartment. In the second video, released on Friday, some believe they see Sanna Marin dancing with a Finnish pop star. The date on which these images were shot has not been made public.
“These images are private, they were filmed in private places”had initially reacted the Prime Minister. “I was spending an evening with friends”she explained, before finally agreeing to submit to the drug test.
Some considered this behavior inappropriate for a prime minister, and found it to be suspicious of possible drug use, while others felt that she had the right to have fun with friends on the occasion of a private party.
Most criticism has focused on the fact that she was serving as Prime Minister when these videos were shot, and Mme Marin had to justify himself in particular on his ability to lead, ensuring that his ability to work had not been altered.
She acknowledged, while asserting her right to privacy, that she had consumed alcohol, but always denied witnessing drug use by participants. She also had to justify herself about a kiss on the neck that a reporter thought she identified on one of the videos.
A long list of attacks and controversies
Antti Lindtman, leader of the SDP group in parliament, told a party press conference on Thursday that the prime minister had his group’s backing. “I don’t see a big problem with her dancing with friends at a private event”he said.
Since her accession to this post in 2019, the one who was for a time the youngest head of government in the world, has already suffered several waves of criticism related to her hobbies, her age or her gender. In 2020, hundreds of Finnish women had given him their support by posing in cleavage on social networks, behind the hashtag « Imwithsanna » – “I am with Sanna”. Sanna Marin was then accused of “playing the models” in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis for having posed for a magazine with a black blazer, with nothing underneath.
In December 2021, Sanna Marin had to apologize for dancing until dawn without her phone, unaware that she was in contact with Covid-19. She also had to justify herself on breakfast costs.
The joint government of Mme Marin is not spared from attacks, particularly of a sexist nature. In 2021, a report published by the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence (Stratcom) in Latvia based on a study carried out in 2020, pointed to the scale of the attacks and the “coordinated harassment” specifically targeting Finnish ministers on Twitter.