THE STORY WAS UPDATED
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
The saying sits well with Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. Can you teach a party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* to be civil and ditch their racism? For the PS to turn in a new political leaf and abandon their nationalist rants and xenophobia would be tantamount to political harakiri.
One matter that I have never grasped and accepted is how so-called mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party (NCP), the media, allow politicians of the PS to bash and denegrate migrants and minorities.
The latest scandal to hit the government involves minister of foreign trade and development, Ville Tavio, a PS politician who has made a name for himself as a far-right homophobe, Islamophobe and xenophobe.
The unilateral decision by Tavio not to participate in a gender-equality alliance for the rebuiling of Ukraine which also include sexual minorities, has received a lot of criticsm from President Alexander Stubb.
“I hope that in the future we will not see similar mistakes from the ministry for foreign affairs, that the president will not be informed of matters that belong to the minister for foreign trade and development cooperation, but are related to our foreign and security policy,” Stubb was quoted as saying in Yle News.
Just as the dust was settling, Tavio was quoted in Helsingin Sanomat by stating: “I support the rights of sexual minorities. The Perussuomalaiset will secure a better Finland for sexual minorities in general by opposing Islamzation.”
Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Ville Tavio. Source: Kauppalehti.
Even if we can point out the NCP’s political sin of going to bed with the PS, Finland has the government it deserves. If you look at their over first year in government, the question is what type of Finland will we have at the end of their term in 2027?
What will our welfare state look like and how much will social inequality grow and polarize our country? Would you dare to see?
It would be naive to believe that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government will strengthen our welfare state The only matter it will strengthen is social inequality. As mentioned in a previous posting, about one third of Finnish voters are racist. The rise of the PS is a good example of the latter.
Going back to the original question: Can you teach a dog new tricks?
No, but if its racism is stongly grounded on racism, nationalism and social exclusion, then you can. The dog does not learn new tricks per se but is emboldened to carry out its old tricks.
