Sanna Marin gave an impassioned defense of her right to a personal life Wednesday following the emergence of fresh evidence of her apparent enjoyment of a party animal lifestyle.
“I am also a human being. Sometimes I also long for joy, light and pleasure in the midst of these dark clouds…It’s private, it’s joy and it’s life. I didn’t miss a single day of work,” Marin said, speaking at a meeting of the ruling Social Democratic Party in Lahti, Finland.
“This week has not been easy. It has been difficult. But I want to believe that people look at the work we do, not what we do in our free time,” the politician added. “I do my job. I learn from this,” she stressed.
Marin’s remarks followed her apology Tuesday over an “inappropriate” leaked photo of two topless women making out against the official backdrop of the set she uses to address the nation at her residence.
“We had sauna, swam and spent time together. That kind of picture should not have been taken but otherwise, nothing extraordinary happened at the get-together,” Marin said of the get-together, which took place in July. She assured her compatriots that national security was never compromised, and that appropriate security arrangements remained in place “at all times.”
The photo received national media attention less than a week after the release of videos showing Marin dancing, singing and enjoying herself at a house party. In one of the videos, a partygoer referred to “flour-gang,” a euphemism for cocaine. The prime minister took a drug test to prove that she didn’t engage in any inappropriate activities.