Sari Miriam Essayah (born 21 February 1967) is a Finnish retired racewalker and a politician, former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Member of Parliament since 2015. She is the president of the Finnish Christian Democrats party. She is serving as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry since 2023.
Sari Essayah | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Essayah in 2023 | |
| Minister of Agriculture and Forestry | |
| Assumed office 20 June 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Petteri Orpo |
| Preceded by | Antti Kurvinen |
| Leader of the Christian Democrats | |
| Assumed office 28 August 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Päivi Räsänen |
| Member of the Parliament of Finland | |
| Assumed office 28 April 2015 | |
| In office 19 March 2003 – 20 March 2007 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 1 July 2009 – 1 July 2014 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 February 1967 Haukivuori, Finland |
| Political party | Christian Democrats |
| Spouse | Robert Knapp |
| Children | 2 |
| Sport | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Race walking |
During her sports career, Essayah competed mainly in 5 and 10 kilometres. In the latter, she won the World Championship in 1993 and the European Championship in 1994. She made seven national records, all of which are still standing.
In 2016, Essayah became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and she has been a member of the Ethics Committee, Finnish Athletics Association since 2014.[1]
Education
editHer father is from Morocco.
Essayah holds an M.Sc (Econ) in business administration and accounting from the University of Vaasa.
Political career
editAfter retiring from sports Essayah entered politics and represented the Christian Democrats in the Finnish parliament between 2003–2007 but failed to get reelected in the election of 2007. She served as the Christian Democrats' party secretary from 2007 to 2009. Essayah was elected to the European Parliament in 2009 but failed to be reelected in 2014 despite her 61 000 votes. This left the Finnish Christian Democrats without MEPs in the 2014 election.[2] In November 2011 she undertook godparenthood for Mikola Dziadok, Belarusian activist and political prisoner.[3][4]
Essayah was candidate in the 2012 Finnish presidential election. She came last with 2.47 percent of the votes.
In the 2015 parliamentary elections, Essayah was elected to represent a newly formed constituency of Savonia and Karelia with over 11 000 votes.[5] She was later chosen to be the vice speaker of the Christian Democrats' Parliamentary group. In August, she was chosen as the new chair of her party after her predecessor, Päivi Räsänen, retired from the position after over ten years.[6] Sari Essayah was re-elected in Finnish parliament in the 2019 elections and re-elected for a third term as the party chair in a party congress in August.
In June 2023, she was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Forestry in the Orpo Cabinet.[7] On 27 August 2023, Essayah was chosen as the presidential candidate of Christian Democrats in 2024 Finnish presidential election.[8] In the election, she received 1.48% of the total vote count.[9]
Other activities
edit- Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Member of the Advisory Council (since 2019)[10]
Achievements
edit| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing  Finland
| |||||
| 1987 | World Championships | Rome, Italy | 19th | 10 km | 47:30 |
| 1989 | Universiade | Duisburg, West Germany | 3rd | 5 km | 21:34 |
| 1990 | European Championships | Split, Yugoslavia | 5th | 10 km | 45:10 |
| 1991 | World Race Walking Cup | San Jose, United States | 16th | 10 km | 46:20 |
| Universiade | Sheffield, England | 1st | 10 km | 44:04 | |
| World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | 3rd | 10 km | 43:13 | |
| 1992 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | 4th | 10 km | 45:08 |
| 1993 | World Race Walking Cup | Monterrey, Mexico | 2nd | 10 km | 45:18 |
| World Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | 1st | 10 km | 42:59 | |
| 1994 | European Championships | Helsinki, Finland | 1st | 10 km | 42:37 |
| 1995 | World Race Walking Cup | Beijing, China | 12th | 10 km | 44:21 |
| World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 4th | 10 km | 42:20 | |
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 16th | 10 km | 45:02 |
References
edit- ^ "Sari Essayah". The International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
- ^ Candidates, Yle site for EU elections 2014. May 26, 2014.
- ^ "Prisoner's Godparenthood: Sari Essayah adopts Mikolai Dziadok". Viasna Human Rights Centre. 2011-11-23. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
- ^ Студзінская, Іна (February 1, 2012). "Мікалай Дзядок: "Усіх не перасаджаеце!"". Радыё Свабода (in Belarusian). Radio Liberty. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ [1] Yle site for Parliamentary elections 2015. April 24, 2015.
- ^ "Sari Essayah kristillisdemokraattien puheenjohtajaksi". 28 August 2015.
- ^ "Prime Minister Orpo's Government appointed". Valtioneuvosto. Retrieved 2023-06-20.
- ^ "Christian Democrats select Sari Essayah as presidential candidate". Yle. August 27, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
- ^ "Presidential election 2024, Whole country, Results by candidate". Ministry of Justice, Information and Result Service. 28 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ Advisory Council Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).
External links
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