Editorial | Marin’s popularity is the Joker card of the election spring

Editorial|Editorial

Prime minister The extraordinary personal brand of Sanna Marini (sd) has become one of the special phenomena of this government period, which can also have a great impact on the spring parliamentary elections. Marin’s popularity in Finland and around the world is something unprecedented for a Finnish politician. The prime minister has enough supporters, even though his government is in a bad state.

Marin became prime minister in the fall of 2019 after the center had withdrawn its support from Antti Rintee (sd), who formed the government. The young female prime minister attracted interest at meetings of EU leaders, but the honeymoon was cut short when the coronavirus pandemic broke out.

Marin, who entered politics as a left-wing ideological politician, emerged as a crisis leader who had to lead the country through a pandemic and a security policy crisis. Even the last months of the government are still overshadowed by the fear of energy shortages and power outages. No peacetime prime minister has had to experience a similar string of crises, not even the depression-era leader Esko Aho (Centre). The youngest leaders have been put in the hardest places.

Marin has weathered her storms. Finland’s corona policy was successful in international comparison. In the end, the security policy turn was also very successful, in which Finland had to quickly find its way through a narrow channel after the start of the Russian war of aggression. The cooperation and division of labor between the Prime Minister and the President work excellently in a tight situation.

Marin has spoken about Russia in a very strict tone, which has come close to, for example, the speeches of Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Marin has brought out his feelings, behind which, judging by everything, is a genuine shock at the atrocities in Russia. Politically, however, Marin has positioned herself skillfully, because free from the burdens of history, she has been able to reflect the moods of the people and in that way made a difference to the politicians brought up during the Finnish era, who are also numerous in her own party.

On the other hand, Marin’s style has also caused frustration. He has expressed strong opinions without, however, opening up more about what kind of world view his opinions are based on. It works well in the world’s media, but the Finnish public would like to hear more.

Curbing the pandemic and reversing the course of foreign policy were the main reasons when the American Politico and the British Financial Times selected Marin for their lists of international influencers at the beginning of December.

Marin was ranked number one among European “dreamers” by Politico to the list, whose leaders have previously been Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “The social democrat, who came to power as one of the world’s youngest heads of state, has skilfully led his country through the corona epidemic, committed Finland to one of the world’s most ambitious climate goals, and navigated his country through the dangers of war in the immediate area,” Politico enthused.

Financial Times again raised Marini among the 25 most influential women in the world. It also included, among others, the first black female judge of the United States Supreme Court, Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Duke of Sussex, Meghan Markle, and the women who protested against the headscarf ban in Iran.

Marin has made it to prestigious but at the same time interesting lineups, which are not only ascended based on formal status but also on the basis of publicity value. Few politicians of even a large country in the world reach similar superstar status, and no Finn has been even close to it before.

In a world where most of the people in power are still older men, Marin has benefited from her gender, her youth and her looks. Marin’s reputation as a role model, a breaker of boundaries and a big dreamer is primarily based on the images that arise of him. As prime minister, Marin has been very matter-of-fact and has been content to dismiss questions related to her age or gender by answering, for example, that women should be able to do the same things as men.

Marin’s reputation rose to yet another level at the end of the summer, when a dance video of the prime minister at a house party spread to the world. In Finland, the Prime Minister’s celebration was also criticized, but the world’s reaction was almost unanimously delighted. Such criticisms regularly turn in Marin’s favor, because it is easy to see the criticism as the narrow-mindedness of the old conservatives.

In her own party, Marin has risen to a superior position, as she has succeeded in supporting Sdp’s popularity figures and rejuvenating the party’s already badly grayed profile.

On the other hand, the highly popular prime minister is a problem for other parties, because he has left his government partners in a bad shadow. The center’s solution has been to seek attention with constant bickering, which culminated in the fall in the fact that the party practically already stepped on the side of the opposition with one foot. The reign has been difficult for the greens as well. As the elections approach, the government is already so crippled that it is no longer able to decide on anything other than handing out money to the voters.

To the election spring when leaving, Marin’s popularity is a political wild card, which is especially feared in the coalition. In the television studio, Marin is a skilled and ruthless political debater when she wants to be. In addition, Marin has at his disposal his own attention value and social media, with which he can create a completely new style of political campaign.

In the autumn prime minister polls, Mari has been supported as the next prime minister by about a quarter of Finns, which makes him clearly more popular than the coalition’s Petteri Orpo. The coalition cannot be lulled into the fact that its lead of about five percentage points in the polls will last until the elections.

If the coalition wins the elections, what will Sanna Marin do? Few believe that he would like to make a billion-dollar adjustment as finance minister of Orpo’s government. At least the chairman of the parliamentary group, Antti Lindtman, is available for that position. Presidential election campaigns start quickly after the parliamentary elections, but Marin has flatly refused to run for president. However, could the mind change if the chances of winning started to look very good?

The most natural thing for Marin would probably be to aspire to some prominent international position, where he would be able to utilize the experience, network of relationships and global publicity gained during his tenure as prime minister. One would think that such jobs could be found for Europe’s leading dreamer.

The editorials are HS’s positions on a current topic. The articles are prepared by HS’s editorial department, and they reflect the magazine principle line.