The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* congress over the weekend raised some questions and new perspectives about the PS’ alternate reality. The hostile attacks by PS chairperson Riikka Purra and speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, Matti Putkonen, and others as “spineless liars” are a warning of the perilous direction that the party wants to steer Finland.
Apart from the numerous scandals this summer due to the PS’ history with racism, attacks by the party on our media are equally concerning.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s leadership is another problem. Very few members of his party, the conservative National Coalition Party, have voiced concern about the siatuion and its hardright political direction.
Pertti Salolainen is a veteran former NCP MP and minister who is one of the few dissenting voices of the party. Another one is former NCP member and MP Kirsi Piha.
Tweets Salolainen: “The full-frontal attack on #journalism, journalists and #YLE is worrying. It must be rejected out of hand. We don’t need to be on the path of Hungary in Finland!”
What we are witnessing now is a waiting game at a poker table where the stakes are high: Will the Swedish People’s Party abandon the coalition and force the government to fall? How much pain can the NCP endure due to its partnership with the PS? What will be the reaction of Finnish voters to the government’s austerity program? Is Orpo’s position in the NCP under threat?
The only one that holds the answer to the above-mentioned questions is time.
It looks like we will face a very ugly and unpredictable political autmn and winter.
