Finland Swears in Youngest Prime Minister

Sanna Marin has become the youngest head of state in the world.

The 34-year-old was sworn in as Finland's new prime minister on December 10.

Marin became prime minister when her predecessor, Antti Rinne, resigned from the position.

Rinne had failed to secure a much-needed healthcare reform and to deal with a series of strikes that paralyzed the country for weeks.

Marin replaced Rinne as head of the Social Democratic Party soon after his resignation and won a vote of confidence in parliament to take charge of the government.

Although she is Finland's youngest ever prime minister, Marin is no novice to politics.

She has been a member of parliament since 2015 and held the post of transport minister before assuming her new role.

As prime minister, Marin's first priority will be to rebuild trust among the four parties in her coalition.

To help her with the task, she has selected a cabinet of 17 politicians, 12 of whom are women.

Interestingly, three of the four party leaders in Marins's coalition also happen to be women - a first in Finnish politics.

In addition, Marin expressed her strong commitment to helping ordinary people by increasing public spending on welfare and infrastructure.

Coming from a poor family, she admits that she would never have succeeded if it were not for the country's generous welfare system and low levels of inequality.

She has also pledged to make the country carbon neutral by 2035.

Marin's victory reflects a growing trend of politicians in their 30s winning leadership positions.

Only time will tell if these young politicians have what it takes to lead their countries into a brighter future.

 

• swears in  선서 받고 (정식으로) 취임시키다. predecessor |predəsesə 전임자  paralyze pǽrəlàiz 마비시키다   cabinet ˈkæbɪnət 내각 , 캐비닛, 보관장

• assume əˈsuːm (권력·책임을) 맡다 (=take) (사실일 것으로) 추정[상정]하다  priority praɪ|ɔːrəti 우선 사항  coalition |koʊə│lɪʃn 연립 정부, 연정

• express ɪkˈspres 나타내다, 표(현)하다 (→unexpressed)  expression 표현, 표출  expressive (생각·감정을) 나타내는, 표정[표현력]이 있는

• commitment kəˈmɪtmənt 약속(한 일), 책무  infrastructure ˈɪnfrəstrʌktʃə 사회[공공] 기반 시설  inequality |ɪnɪ│kwɑːləti 불평등, 불균등 (↔equality)

• pledge pledʒ 약속, 맹세, 서약 (=commitment)