The rapid rise of Sanna Marin, the 34-year-old Finnish woman set to become the youngest serving world leader

09 Dec 2019, 17:06 by Sahar Esfandiari, Business Insider US

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee284afd9db22d017fec37.png — Reuters

This week, Finland’s Sanna Marin will become the youngest serving prime minister in the world.
At just 34, she has risen through the ranks of Finnish politics rapidly.
Formerly Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Marin entered politics aged just 27, and became an MP in 2015, aged 30.
On Sunday, she was chosen by the Social Democratic Party to take over from former leader of the part Antti Rinne, following criticism over the way he handled a postal strike.
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Sanna Marin is set to become the next prime minister of Finland on Tuesday, which will make the 34-year-old the youngest prime minister the country has ever had, and the third woman to lead the country.

Once she is takes office this week, Marin will become the youngest serving prime minister in the world.

Formerly Finland’s Minister of Transport and Communications, Marin entered politics aged just 27, and became an MP in 2015, age 30.

On Sunday, she was chosen by the Social Democratic Party to take over from former leader of the part Antti Rinne, following criticism over the way he handled a postal strike, according to Reuters.

Take a look at the life of the woman set to become the world’s youngest serving prime minister.

Marin was born in Finland’s capital city Helsinki in 1985, and lived in various cities around the country before her family settled in the southern city of Tampere.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee678dfd9db2607938d7f9.png — Clarion Hotel, Helsinki, Finland.Shutterstock

Source: sannamarin.net

In Tampere, Marin lived and was brought up in a same-sex family with her mother and her mother’s female partner.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee50ebfd9db2473c4d1f07.png — A map showing the city of Tampere in southern Finland, where Marin grew up.Google Maps

Marin describes herself as coming from a “rainbow family,” and in 2015 she told Finnish media how growing up she felt “invisible” because her family “weren’t recognized as a real family.”

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee66c7fd9db256762613d6.png — Flickr via Elsie esq.

Source: menaiset

Her upbringing had a profound affect on her politics. “For me, people have always been equal. It’s not a matter of opinion. That’s the foundation for everything,” she said in a 2015 interview.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee6cb3fd9db24ab3128325.png — Sanna Marin speaking at a press conference in October 2019.YouTube/Valtioneuvosto

Source: menaiset

The first person in her family to go to university, Marin graduated from Prikkala High School in 2004 and went on to study Administrative Sciences at the University of Tampere.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee7001fd9db24d3e6f4b29.png — The University of Tampere in Finland.YouTube/UniversityofTampere

Source: sannamarin.net , BBC

In 2012, at just 27 years old, Marin became head of the city council in Tampere, which has a population of around 230,000 people.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dedd809fd9db23222205c23.jpg — Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

Soucre: BBC

While still the head of the Tampere city council, Marin was elected as an MP for the Social Democrat Party in 2015, representing the region of Pirkanmaa.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee2913fd9db23d1a635683.png — Marin pictured with Katri Kulmuni, Finland’s 32-year-old deputy prime minister.Reuters.

Source: BBC

Since June, she has held the position of Transport and Communications Minister. In the picture below she can be seen on the far-right in the second row.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee2998fd9db22d6c16d115.png — Ministers of the new Finnish government pose for a family photo in Helsinki, Finland, June 6, 2019.Reuters.

Source: BBC

The former prime minister of Finland Antti Rinne resigned last Tuesday after intense criticisms over the way he handled a postal strike.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee29cafd9db22d7b648862.png — Reuters

She will take power amid a strike by several of the country’s largest companies, Reuters said. The strike is estimated to result in a loss of about 500 million euros ($550 million), according to the Confederation of Finnish Industries.

Source: Reuters

The incident paved the way for Marin to take the top job after the Social Democratic party voted her in to take Rinne’s place on Sunday.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee293afd9db23d205f5125.png — Reuters

Source: Reuters

She is due to be sworn in on Tuesday, making her the youngest serving prime minister in the world currently.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee28d3fd9db22d29406176.png — Reuters

“We have a lot of work ahead to rebuild trust,” Marin told reporters after she won the premiership.

https://static.businessinsider.sg/2019/12/12/5dee7c88fd9db26852643886.png — Vesa Moilanen/Lehtikuva/via REUTERS

“I have never thought about my age or gender, I think of the reasons I got into politics and those things for which we have won the trust of the electorate,” she continued.

Source: Business Insider

Her achievement is no mean feat when you compare her age to other world leaders —Donald Trump was 70 when he became US president and Britain has not had a prime minister under 40 since 1806.

https://www.businessinsider.my/assets/placeholders/ap-image-placeholder.jpg

Marin joins other young world leaders, including 39-year-old Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s prime minister, and 35-year-old Oleksiy Honcharuk, the prime minister of Ukraine.

Marin’s age and progressive politics, along with the fact that she is a new mom, have garnered comparisons to Arden.

Source: BBC