Sanna Marin who is just 34 years old is all set to swear in as Finland’s Prime Minister. With this, Marin will become the world’s youngest prime minister and thereby, change the dynamics of world politics.
The Social Democrats Marin will run a coalition government from four parties which are all headed by women. Three of the party leaders are under 35 – Li Andersson (32), Katri Kulmuni (32), Maria Ohisalo (34) and Anna MaJa Henrikkson (55).
Netizens rejoiced after the news and hailed Finland as a progressive nation. Finnish politician, Alexander Stubb, whose party could not make it to the government, proudly shared the piece of news on Twitter.
“My party is not in government, but I rejoice that the leaders of the five parties in government are female. Shows that #Finland is a modern and progressive country. The majority of my government was also female. One day gender will not matter in government but pioneers,” Alexander Stubb said in his caption.
We’ll tell you more about the women leaders who will take over the Finland government.
Sanna Marin
At just 34, Sanna Marin already has a wide experience in politics. She became a member of the Parliament of Finland in 2015 and was appointed as the Minister of Transport and Communication in June 2019.
Moreover, Marin served as the first Vice President of the Social Democratic Youth between 2010 and 2012. In 2012, she was elected as the City Council of Tampere. She has a Master’s degree in Administrative Sciences from the University of Tampere.
Marin and her partner Markus Räikkönen parent a child.
Li Andersson
Born in 1987, Li Andersson is the leader of the Left Alliance party. In June 2019, she was elected as the Minister of Education in the Rinne Cabinet. According to Reuters, Andersson will continue as the education minister in the Marin-led cabinet.
Andersson, in fact, also chaired The Left Youth of Finland from 2011 to 2015 and has been leading the Left Alliance as the party leader since 2016. She holds a bachelor degree in Social Sciences.
Andersson’s bio on her website states, “I study international law at Abo Akademi University and I am specializing in international human rights law and refugee law.”
Maria Ohisalo
Maria Ohisalo, leader of the Green League party, was appointed as the Minister of the Interior in June 2019 and may continue to lead the same ministry in the new cabinet.
Ohisalo hails from Helsinki and is a sports enthusiast. She graduated from the Makelanrinne Sports Gymnasium in 2004. She continued her education to pursue a Master’s degree in social science followed by a doctorate in sociology.
She joined the Green League in 2008 and was elected as the party leader in 2019 post which she took over the interior ministry.
Katri Kulmuni
Katri Kulmuni, 32, is the leader of Centre Party of Finland. She was appointed as the Minister of Economic Affairs in June 2019 and then, as the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland in September 2019.
She has a Master’s degree in social science from the University of Lapland and has been a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2015.
According to Reuters, she will replace Mika Lintila as the Finance Minister in the newly-formed government.
Anna MaJa Henrikkson
Anna Maja Henrikkson, 55, is a law graduate who joined politics in 1996 and became a member of the Swedish People’s Party.
In June 2016, she was elected as the leader of the Swedish People’s Party with which she became the first female head of the party. She has been a member of the Parliament of Finland since 2007. Also, Anna served as Finland’s Minister of Justice from June 2011.
A native of Jakobstad in Finland, Anna is a true sports enthusiast and loves football and ice hockey. She got married to Janne Henriksson in 1991 and has two daughters.
