Zahra Abdulla

Zahra Abdulla
Born	1966 Somalia
Occupation(s)	Politician, midwife
Years active	1997–2017 (Helsinki City Council)
Known for	Member of Helsinki City Council representing the Green League

Zahra Abdulla (, ; born 1966) is a Somali-origin Finnish politician who represented the Green League on the Helsinki City Council from 1997 until 2017.

Biography

Zahra was born in Somalia in 1966 and spent her childhood years in both Egypt and Kenya. She later pursued medical studies in Moscow. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the onset of the Somali Civil War, she applied for political asylum in Finland, where she became a citizen in 1998.

Political career

Before entering politics, Zahra worked professionally as a midwife. In the 2007 Finnish parliamentary elections, she came close to becoming the first Somali immigrant elected to the Parliament of Finland, falling short by just over 400 votes behind fellow Green League candidate Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto.

In October 2008, Zahra secured a seat on the Helsinki City Council with almost 2,500 votes, notably receiving strong support from districts with relatively low immigrant populations. Her electoral achievement was credited to her advanced education and robust affiliation with the Green League.

In 2015, Zahra departed from the Greens' council faction amid speculation linking her exit, along with Sirkku Ingervo's, to dissatisfaction related to internal election outcomes. During that year's Finnish parliamentary election, she publicly supported Veronika Honkasalo of the Left Alliance.

References

• Zahra Abdulla's official campaign site (archived)
• Zahra Abdulla's campaign results, Helsingin Sanomat
• The new parliament, Yleisradio (YLE)