Perussuomalaiset (PS) [2] Speaker of Parliament Maria Lohela no longer is alone in the Nordic region after Denmark’s new center-right government elected the founder of the xenophobic Danish People’s Party (DPP), Pia Kjærsgaard, as the new speaker of parliament, according to the Copenhagen Post. Like her counterpart in Finland, Kjærsgaard has built her political career on Islamophbobic fear-mongering.
The new Danish speaker of parliament was named a few years ago by Swedish magazine Gringo as the “racist of the year,”
Read full story here.
Bashy Quraishy, an anti-racism activist in Denmark, writes: “This sad Danish political development [election of Kjærsgaard] is an indication of the things to come and against which progressive activists have been warning for years…In a way it is good because it can activate the ethnic minorities, leftwing forces and humanists in Denmark. It is my hope!”
Just like the PS, which are close political and ideological allies of the DPP, the impact of last month’s Danish elections is being felt by migrants, refugees and minorities.
According to the Financial Times, the influence of the DPP, which will not form part of the minority government but give its support from parliament, wields a lot of influence. Today the new government said it would cut benefits by half for those immigrants that arrive after September.
Integration benefits will be slashed for a single person to 5,945 Danish crowns (797 euros) from 10,849 Danish crowns previously. Couples would see their subsidies plummet to 16,638 from 28,832 Danish crowns previously, writes the Financial Times.
Taking into account the hostile language and rhetoric of the DPP against migrants and especially Muslims, eyes are simultaneously on Finland as well and whether it is bound to follow the same xenophobic path of Denmark. When will all the major parties of Finland, like we saw in the recent Danish elections, begin to compete and attempt to match DPP’s xenophobic message?
PS chairman Timo Soini wrote right after Denmark’s June 19 election result that he was elated that the DPP had become the second-biggest party of the country.
I sincerely hope that Finland does not follow Denmark’s footsteps but at this stage nothing would surprise me.
If Finland caves in to the same xenophobic political rhetoric, will the PS be demanding the same things as the DPP below?
These are sad days for Denmark and the Nordic region.
Political events in Denmark and Finland show that key Nordic values like social equality appear to apply only to white people, not migrants and minorities.
The strong rejection of cultural diversity is equally worrying.
[1] The famous saying, Inte min talman, or you’re not my speaker of parliament, comes from Swedish MP Rossana Dinamarca of the Left Party. In the video below, Dinamarca goes to the podium and addresses the Swedish Riksdag (parliament). When Sweden Democrat deputy speaker of parliament Björn Söder tells her to address him as “honorable speaker” she refuses and states, Inte min talman.
See also Perussuomalaiset Maria Lohela: Inte min talman, or not my speaker of parliament
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCJlIcgakOc
[2] The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English-language names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.