Political Career
Working for a time as a midwife, Zahra later moved on to a career in politics. In the Finnish parliamentary elections of 2007, she came close to becoming the first Somali immigrant to be elected to the Parliament of Finland. However, very near the end of the vote counting, she was beaten out by fellow Green League candidate Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto by only a few hundred votes (4586 vs. 4174).
In October of the following year, Zahra was elected to the Helsinki City Council with nearly 2,500 votes, "a large number of which were given in areas where immigrants hardly show up as a blip on the local population register." Reasons cited for Zahra's success in the elections were her high educational level, and considerable local support for the Green League.
Read more about this topic: Zahra Abdulla
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“My political enemies I can freely forgive; but as for who abused me when I was serving my country in the field, and those who attacked me for serving my country—Doctor, that is a different case.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)