Aili Keskitalo

Aili Keskitalo
Keskitalo portrait in 2013.
President of the Sami Parliament of Norway
In office 12 October 2017 – 21 October 2021
Preceded by	Vibeke Larsen
Succeeded by	Silje Karine Muotka
In office 16 October 2013 – 8 December 2016
Preceded by	Egil Olli
Succeeded by	Vibeke Larsen
In office 20 October 2005 – 26 September 2007
Preceded by	Sven-Roald Nystø
Succeeded by	Egil Olli
Personal details
Born	(1968-10-29) 29 October 1968 (age 56) Kautokeino, Finnmark, Norway
Nationality	Sami Norwegian
Political party	NSR
Children	3

Aili Keskitalo (born 29 October 1968) is a Norwegian Sami politician representing the Norwegian Sámi Association (NSR), who has served as the president of the Sami Parliament for three terms, from 2005 to 2007, 2013 to 2016 and 2017 to 2021.[1]

Prior to her current presidency, she served as president of the Sami Parliament of Norway in 2005, the third in its history and the first female President of any Sami Parliament. She stepped down in September 2007.[2] The collapse of her coalition made way for the first ever non-NSR presidency, led by Egil Olli from the Norwegian Labour Party. She was re-elected in 2013 and served until 2016. The year after she returned for her third stint as president of the Sami Parliament. In 2020, Keskitalo announced that she would not seek re-election in the 2021 election.[3]

She has a Master in Public Administration from Copenhagen Business School, in which she compared the school systems in Norway and Greenland.[4]

Keskitalo was the first Sámi President whose mother tongue was not Sámi but Norwegian. However, she speaks Northern Sami fluently.

See also

• Sámi politics
  • Sámi Parliament of Russia
  • Norwegian Sami Association
  • Keskitalo's Third Council

References

1. "Aili Keskitalo new president of the Sami Parliament". The Independent Barents Observer. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
2. Aslaksen, Eilif (25 September 2007). "Ingen hyggelig dag" [Not a fun day] (in Norwegian). NRK Sámi Radio. Retrieved 31 May 2010.
3. "Sametingspresident Aili Keskitalo (NSR) tar ikke gjenvalg: – Takknemlig for tilliten jeg har hatt" (in Norwegian). NRK. 25 June 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2021.
4. Keskitalo, Aili 2005: Høyere utdanningsinstitusjoner for urfolk - i en moderniseringstid : en komparativ analyse av endringer i rammebetingelser for Sámi allaskuvla/Samisk høgskole og Ilisimatusarfik ved årtusenskiftet. ('Higher Education Institutions in a Time of Modernisation: a Comparative Analysis of Changes in Requirements for the Sami University College and the University of Greenland at the Turn of the Century' - thesis from her MPA at South Trøndelag University College, North Trøndelag University College and Copenhagen Business School)

Preceded by Vibeke Larsen	President of the Sami Parliament 2017–2021	Succeeded by Silje Karine Muotka
Preceded by Egil Olli	President of the Sami Parliament 2013–2016	Succeeded by Vibeke Larsen
Preceded by Sven-Roald Nystø	President of the Sami Parliament 2005–2007	Succeeded by Egil Olli