Reija Härkönen
When Jussi Halla-aho was getting prepared for the parliamentary elections, on the last day before the election day on April 16, 2011, he once again urged the anti-immigrant voters to act, thanked his own people (meaning the anti-immigrant circle) for their good work and the True Finns (Perussuomalaiset) of Helsinki and the neighborhood of Kontula for the arrangements. He said:
“I want to remind you once again that our importance in the future depends solely on the number of votes we get. Therefore, it is important that all of my supporters go to the polls, even if they have the assurance that I’ll get elected anyway.
I urge the rest of the country to vote for other True Finns, so that we can get as large group as possible [in parliament].”
Halla-aho also endorsed True Finn candidates whom his followers could vote for in the rest of Finland. Not that the True Finns party needed such a success, but the anti- immigrant so-called nuivat candidates needed it in order to get behind them a large parliamentary group.
In the same context, Halla-aho published for the last time his pre-election speech. It contains some doomsday text, but when read by a clearly articulate, shy-looking young man, the effect is somewhat tragicomic. This probably explains why the site with the text and video was taken down from the Internet. Fortunately everything can be found on the Internet, even Halla-aho’s campaign agenda:
http://web.archive.org/web/20110519104548/http://halla-aho.com/index.php/etusivu/loppurutistus-osa-11-16-4-2011/
Halla-aho headlined his speech “Change is possible,” and wrote:
“We are facing a historic upheaval. On 6.4.2011 will open a window of opportunity. This window will close on the actual election day 17.4. The decisions you make in this timeframe will define Finland’s direction for years to come.
There are two reasons why these are the most important elections of Finland’s post-war period. First, they take a stand on important questions. If there is no radical change in immigration policy now, the social and economic consequences are going to be massive and largely irreversible.
This is not just trivial intimidation. In these elections we shall make up our minds whether we shall take the course of Sweden, France, Britain and Germany. We need not do so.”
The speech also mentioned briefly the EU, reducing aid to developing countries and supporting recreational shooters, but its main emphasis was “immigration-criticism” and his long and self-sacrificing work, the loss of men, and fear-mongering that Finland is doomed to ruin unless “change” happens now:
“In no previous elections have the voters had the same opportunity to express themselves as now. After years of criticism of immigration [policy], our project culminates in these elections, and it is the culmination of the True Finns immigration-critical candidates.
This is a fact, which everybody knows deep down inside. The entire media and all the other political parties are unanimously attacking the True Finns group for the simple reason that a change in immigration policy hinges on whether we win or lose.
Our success in the election is what is being monitored. Our electoral victory is what is feared. If we win this election, the change can not be stopped. If we lose this election, our criticism of immigration [policy]shall be deemed as rejected and the multicultural steamroller will move on.”
On his familiar Hommaforum forum, Halla-aho summed up the last-minute atmosphere by quoting Tolkien:
“A great doom awaits you, either to rise above the height of all your fathers since the days of Elendil, or to fall into darkness with all that is left of your least.”
The election victory, which was christened jytky, became a reality. On Hommaforum, Halla-aho seemed to be a bit interested in a ministerial post, even though it was a little scary at the same time:
“It is clear that the mere visibility and a staggering number of votes forced to give me a reasonably visible and symbolically important task, but my honest opinion is that staying in the background actually offers a member of parliament like me the best possible potential. A prominent role should be given to those with the best technical know-how, and who do raise too many passions in people.”
The True Finns decided to fight it out in the opposition, but the administration committee chairmanship tasted sweet to Halla-aho. He signaled from the plenary session of April 25, 2011 the following:
“These are great days, and the proportions of the anti-immigrant revolution will be fully understood only in a longer perspective. Conversely, the tolerant people [anti-racists] will live in a nightmare, which they would not have been able to imagine a moment ago.”
In his blog on the same day, Halla-aho starts preparing his excited supporters for the precepts of his parliamentary work and that results would not happen immediately:
“The writing to create political influence on the Internet, by its own conditions, often feels like a carnival. It aims to ‘entertain’ the audience and attract attention. In political decision-making, especially at the highest levels of Government and in Parliament, this may not be the most efficient way of doing things. Influencing requires the maintenance of relations, particularly to official servants and other politicians, and decision-making takes place largely behind the scenes, at coffee tables and in corridors. Political decision-making is not entertaining and not transparent, and in this respect we need to adjust to the rules. In politics you need to advance in small steps, not thunderously.”
“You have given us your trust in the election. It will be measured in the next election. Until then, I ask you to trust that we will do our best, even if we are less visible in the public eye, and regardless of what the media are reporting about us. Evaluate the achievements in the course of four years, not in real time.”
Such a less public and behind-the-scenes strategy did not please everyone, and Halla-aho was forced to defend his strategy:
” When I say to play by the rules of the house, I just mean the method, not giving up our principles. Most of you probably knew that.”
“Compromises are inevitable in politics. Let us imagine a situation in which we promised a stop on family reunifications, if we agree, during the election period, not to change the status of [mandatory] Swedish at schools.”
“What should I do? What would be the about-turns, and a betrayal to voters?”
“Which in general is the most important thing: the preservation of the halo and the integrity of the anti-immigrant representatives or the fact that the anti-immigrant agenda will be promoted?”
Family reunification is in Halla-aho’s opinion the worst problem of our immigration policy. Reuniting families means, in his mind, that women and children will arrive, who in turn will give rise to more men, women and children. This would, after all, not be too bad, of course, since Halla-aho himself has a family of four children. This would, however, be in conflict with the aims of the far-right extreme nationalist Suomen Sisu association, which is openly against the “unnatural mixing of peoples” and following “the Swedish, French, German and British course”.
After “sending tanks” to the streets of Greece, and after being for a short time expelled from his parliamentary group and losing the administration committee presidency in the summer of 2012, Halla-aho reassured his supporters on Hommaforum:
“The promise of ‘change of tactics’ means that in my debate I will focus to not give the other party ‘easy pickings.'”
Halla-aho has seemingly been focused to believe that the always-sharp Swedish People’s Party MP Jörn Donner has sold himself cheap and believes the True Finns have calmed down as a party. When MP James Hirvisaari was kicked out of the True Finns and formed his own parliamentary group (Muutos 2011) for showing too visibly what the anti-immigration wing of the party really thought, Halla-aho will continue to influence matters behind the scenes. This is what he’s done:
Legal Initiatives
- The Act amending the Penal Code , Chapter 17 (the law of breaching the sanctity of religion) 20/09/2013
- The Penal Code Chapter 11, § 10 of the Council (the law on ethnic agitation) 09/20/2013
- Law of the Firearms Act on 02.07.2013
- Law of the Firearms Act on 02.07.2013
- Law of the Firearms Act on 02.07.2013
- Law of the Firearms Act 6 § on 07/02/2013
- Law of the Firearms Act 6 § on 07/02/2013
- Law of changing the Aliens Act § 51 and § 149 on 29.10.2012
Budget Initiatives
- Refugees and asylum-seekers: of the proposed appropriation reduction of 28.9.2012
- The EU Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows program SOLID subject to the proposed reduction of funds of 28.9.2012
- The Ombudsman for Minorities and the National Discrimination Tribunal: the proposed reduction of the operating expenditure of 28.9.2012
- “European Finland”: the proposed reduction of state aid allocation of 28.9.2012
- The retired Presidents: the proposed reduction of the cost appropriation of 8.9.2012
Written Questions
- The obligation to criminalize ethnic agitation 10/25/2013
- Deportation of persons receiving a negative asylum or a residence permit 10/11/2013
- Teacher’s possibilities of intervening disturbances in school 19/04/2013
- International criminalization of faith criticism 29.11.2012
- Refugee status and subsidiary protection status, the abolition of 22.8.2012
With the help of firearm laws, the anti-immigrant True Finns are working to change the direction of Finland’s preparedness to an external threat. One way to prepare for such a threat is for Finnish homes to be armed and home owners should carry more robust weapons than just pistols and air rifles.
Easier access to weapons and firearms is an important matter in the eyes of Halla-aho’s supporters. As soon as the parliamentary work had started, Halla-aho passed the firearms trainer course and made sure that the media and Hommaforum knew about this.
Halla-aho’s intention, revealed on Hommaforum, is to become an effective politician: “If the opposition wants to really affect things, one must be able to influence the government’s party representatives, and to be able to do it means being nice and sober”
He may already have had a little bit of success in this. Or maybe it’s just the general male mentality: “It’s harmless for boys to play with guns” which made MP Kari Rajamäki to approve of Halla-aho’s initiatives and state: “These are quite reasonable proposals.”
All in all, Halla-aho has acted exactly the way he promised his voters and the True Finns by suppressing refugees, suppressing minorities, and facilitating access to guns. In addition, he seeks as well to change the law on ethnic agitation so that Muslims and immigrants can be insulted publicly with impunity.
Taxpayers are paying Halla-aho to do this type of work as well as paying the salary of other True Finn MPs. These representatives are also – as sad it is to say – the representatives of our people around the world.
