In just a few months, Finnish female Prime Minister Sanna Marin has been full of turmoil. Following defeat of Social Democratic Party, which she led in Finnish parliamentary elections, on April 6 she resigned as chairman of party, saying that she would be just an ordinary member of parliament. On May 10, Marin announced on social media that she had filed for divorce along with her 19-year-old husband, Markus Raikkonen. When Marin married in 2020, he said that she and her husband "spent their youth together, entered adulthood together, and grew up together as parents of our dear daughter." During divorce, Marin wrote: “We are grateful for 19 years we spent together and for our beloved daughter. We will still be best friends.”

19 years in love, 3 years of marriage

Marin met and fell in love with her husband Markus Raikkonen at university. Raikkonen was originally a football player for Finnish football club TPV (Tampreen Pallo-Veikot) and has excellent football skills. In 2016, he founded his own company Nordic Spark Oy in Finland in field of scientific, managerial and technical consulting services. In 2020, Räikkönen left football club to work for multinational company Generaxion as Communications Director and Senior Consultant. He is also an investor in news agency Headline. In 2021, Räikkönen stated on Twitter that he still works as chief operating officer and senior strategic advisor for technology company Henrico Digital. We can say that before marrying Marina, Raikkonen had accumulated a certain amount of fame and money, and his fortune is estimated at between 1 and 3 million US dollars.

When Marin was elected Prime Minister of Finland in 2019, he and Raikkonen only had a romantic relationship. It wasn't until August 1, 2020 that two who had been in love with each other for 16 years decided to get married. this marriage was also widely covered in world media. They married in Saranta, official residence of Prime Minister of Finland, in presence of only a few family members and close friends. Marin in a beautiful satin dress and Raikkonen in a black tuxedo looked perfectly happy. After marrying Marina, Räikkönen became more popular than before and quickly found himself in spotlight of major news outlets. The couple also have an adorable little daughter named Emma Amalia Marin, who was born in August 2018 and is now 5 years old.

▲Wedding photo of Marina and her husband.

Suddenly, after three years of marriage, they announced their divorce, which surprised outside world and made mainstream media headlines. Although media did not directly reveal reason for divorce between them in report, media suspected that one of reasons for divorce was Marin's "hot dance" scandal. In 2022, one after another, videos were released showing Marin drinking and dancing with friends at parties. In video, Marin and Finnish musician Olavi Uusivirta danced next to each other. The outside world suggested that there was an inadequate relationship between them. In this regard, Usivirta denied rumors on Instagram: “The public is speculating about relationship between me and Prime Minister Marin. I can only tell truth: we are friends, and nothing inappropriate has happened.”

Less than two days after first video was made public, another video appeared on Internet and public opinion in Finland exploded again. In video, Marin and man were hugging each other, and man took initiative to bring his face closer to Marin's right neck, media reported that man was "kissing" Marin. Many parties have confirmed that this person is Usivirta. In a subsequent statement, Marin said she "didn't do anything illegal" but did not explain her relationship with Uchivirta. (Extended Reading: A video of Finnish Prime Minister's dance party was made public and netizens reacted with two extremes)

From "the youngest female prime minister" to having to step down

This time around, divorce turmoil has also forced a global vision to focus on Marina, "youngest leader" once praised.

Marin was successfully elected Prime Minister of Finland in December 2019, when he was only 34 years old. Marin leads a pioneering centre-left coalition with five women-led political parties and four party leaders, including Marin who is under 35. When she came to power, she was ridiculed. Estonian Interior Minister Mart Helme ridiculed her and other party members in a radio broadcast for working as a cashier. "Now we see how a cashier can become a cashier." Prime Minister, see how some other street activists and uneducated people join government, become part of it.” In this regard, Marin retorted: "I am proud of Finland. Here, children from poor families can get an education and achieve their own life goals." "Even a cashier can become prime minister."

All ridicule cannot deny that Marin was youngest national leader when he took office. Thanks to his friendly style and pragmatic attitude, Marin has earned title of "Millenial Political Icon". She is highly respected as a politician and is "firm and open to discussion" when dealing with issues. Many politicians noted that Marin's Social Democratic Party needed "strong, responsible and charismatic people" like her. Shortly after taking office, a new corona pandemic broke out in Finland. Marin made decisive decision to close country's borders, impose a travel ban, close schools and mobilize domestic protective materials. Finland has also launched Corona Flash mobile phone app to keep track of infection around everyone. Due to high penetration rates, Finland had one of lowest infection rates in early stages of pandemic outbreak. In addition, pressing social issues such as gender equality and climate change are at heart of Marin's political agenda. A passionate welfare advocate, Marin worked to close gender pay gap, promoted bills that would encourage parents of newborns to share parenting responsibilities equally, and fought domestic violence. Under Marina's leadership, Finland has also extended compulsory education to 18 years of age in order to improve educational attainment and employment opportunities of Finnish youth. Thanks to this, Marin has earned and retained trust of public. The British Daily Mail noted that Marin fit media's notion of a "charismatic politician". In 2021, Time Magazine named her one of "100 Most Influential People in World".

In 2020, Marin posed for cover of fashion magazine Trendy. In photo, Marin has brown wavy hair and is wearing a black suit jacket, but under jacket he is not wearing any clothes, including underwear. The dress was criticized by some as "really inappropriate for a country's prime minister" and thought it would damage her political credibility, but Marin enlisted support of a large number of women who took topless selfies and posted photos. photos on instagram.

The "hot dancing incident" that followed in 2022 brought Marin back into public eye. She apologized for indecent photos taken by her friend at prime minister's residence, but said she had right to privacy. "I'm (totally) human," Marin said almost in tears. "I didn't miss a single day of work. I also longed for joy, light and fun in clouds." Despite some criticism, public accepted Marin's apology in part because of high level of Finnish society's trust in government.

After scandal, Marin's political career became quite difficult, and although she was still popular, polls showed that Marin's support was declining. In Finnish parliamentary elections held on 2 April this year, Marin's party only came in third in terms of seats, behind Finnish National United Party and Finns Party, so it missed out on re-election as prime minister. Marin immediately held a press conference announcing his resignation as chairman of Social Democratic Party. He will not seek re-election or run for president. He just wants to work as an ordinary deputy. “I hope to live a peaceful life. and start a new chapter in my life." The media analyzed that Marin lost because he focused on wrong focus. “While she is moving to left to garner support from SPD, her rivals tend to grapple with Finland's mounting public debt and focus on economic issues,” writes the Guardian.

News and image sources: CNN, The Daily Beast, The Conversation, World Finance, some images taken from Internet

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