So the Finnish media, and apparently also political commentators elsewhere in the world, had a conniption because the Finnish Prime Minister, Sanna Marin, was caught on video at a, in her words, 'boisterous' private party. 

Was she taking drugs? Was she sober enough to make decisions in a responsible way? 

Al Jazeera quoted someone as saying that it did not look good as politicians had to be respectable and enjoy the trust of the public. 

Ms. Marin, born in 1985, is married and has a child. She has been involved in politics all her adult life at all levels of government. On her election as Prime Minister in 2019, she was Finland's youngest ever Prime Minister at 34. She has, by all accounts, been effective in her role and has been able to build links not just in Finland's immediate region but also wider afield.
A telling example: in 2020, Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven was unable to attend an important European meeting due to a death in his Family. Prime Minister Marin stepped in and offered to represent Sweden, asking Löfven to return the favor a month later. She was also instrumental in breaking with tradition by mooting the possibility of Finland joining NATO.

On her webpage, Ms. Marin commits to equality, freedom, and global solidarity. These values seem, to an observer half way around the globe, to echo the admirable Scandinavian traits we appreciate. It seems that many of her countrymen- and -women do as well. But her critics seem to focus on other aspects of her life. 

Ms. Marin has announced that she did take a drug test to silence critics, adding that she did not do anything illegal. 

So here we have a competent politician ready to break with old, perhaps obsolete tradition. Someone able and willing to build wider networks in these post-pandemic times, when the world seems bent on fragmentation and destruction. But she is criticized for being happy and for partying?

Are we unable to accept that the next generation can be effective in politics? That the next generation may be able to do things the old fogies were too afraid, too ossified to dare? Is the problem an inability to see a woman achieve success in what used to be a man's job? Similar criticism has been levelled against the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

Politicians are supposed to be human beings, not robots or old geezers draped in black suits, with red or blue ties, holding forth with boring speeches and waving decrees. 

Let her party! Bring in some joy, some music, some spirit into politics, bring in renewal, bring in hope. 

Unfortunately, I cannot vote in Finland, but if I could, Madame Prime Minister, you would have my vote.