Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin steps down as party leader

Finland’s outgoing prime minister, Sanna Marin, said tonight that she will resign as the leader of her Social Democratic Party at the next party congress in the northern hemisphere autumn.

“Now is the time to get in line again and leave the chairman’s place,” Marin, 37, said during a news conference in Helsinki. She said she would continue as a lawmaker in Parliament.

The Social Democratic Party came in third in Sunday’s election, dashing Marin’s hopes of staying on as prime minister. Finland’s main conservative party claimed victory in a tight three-way race in which right-wing populists took second place.

Marin, who has been prime minister since 2019, is a highly popular figure internationally and at home, but acknowledged that her premiership had put a strain on her personally.

“My endurance has been put to the test,” Marin admitted.

She said her Cabinet has gone through some rough periods in the past years and the centre-left government has had to resort to some difficult decisions. Marin has won praise, among other things, for steering Finland through the Covid-19 pandemic and championing Finland’s Nato bid together with President Sauli Niinisto, and for being a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war with Russia.

Her private life and active social media usage have received a lot of international coverage during her premiership. Marin said she hopes to be able to live “a slightly more peaceful life” in the future.

“These have been exceptionally difficult years and difficult times,” Marin said, “Now that the election result is like this, I consider that I have the opportunity to open a new page in my own life.”

Social Democratic Party chair and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin talks to the media in Helsinki, Finland. Photo / AP

Marin’s Cabinet will officially resign on Friday. Talks to form a new government are to begin next week under the leadership of Petteri Orpo, the head of the National Coalition Party.

The Social Democrats would be open to being a part of the new government, too, Marin said. However, she ruled out the possibility of taking a ministerial post herself.