One headline on Yle caught my eye: Finns voted to oust Sanna Marin’s government. Or was it something like this that the New York Times headlined: “Finland’s prime minister toppled in tight election.“
Headlines Madrid’s El País: “The conservatives win the election in Finland, a short distance from the far right [PS].”
Here’s my headline suggestion: “Finland continues to deny and whitewash its radical right problem [PS].”
National Coalition Party (NCP), Perussuomalaiset (Finns), Social Democratic Party (SDP, Center Party (Cen), Green, Left Alliance (Left), Swedish People’s Party (SPP), Christian Democrats (CD), Movement Now (MN). Source: Yle
Second, what do the numbers tell us about Finland?
The Guardian writes: “Her [Prime Miniter Sanna Marin] personal popularity remained high, but with a recession forecast and inflation surging, the opposition leaders’ accusations of excessive government borrowing and inflated public spending – along with their pledges to impose tough cuts, particularly on welfare budgets – hit home.”
It is disappointing to note how carelessly the Finnish media turns a blind eye to a party like the PS that aims to turn the country into a country modeled after Viktor Orbán of Hungary.
The Media Monitoring Group of Finland published in March a report that showed how the PS has used in all parliamentary elections since 2011 the migrant crime topic to attract voters.
See the full story and report here.
One wonders why the media is not interested in defending minority rights in Finland.
Here are some things PS head Riikka Purra has spewed:
- The PS will not form part of a government that does not tighten immigration policy further.
- Stop people from outside the EU from moving and working in Finland.
- Islam and white Finland are incompatible.
- Seeking asylum is not a right.
- Cultural programs are a luxury.
- Everything that does not work is due to poor immigration policy.
- Only Finnish citizens can get social welfare.
- Leave the European Union in the long term.
- Harden criminal sentences, especially when migrants or minorities are involved.
Why have we yet to see enough editorials and columns in Finland’s leading dailies questioning these exclusionary politics?
After 2011, when the PS won 39 seats from five seats previously, many still want to make believe that there is no “r” problem after all. It’s only something that the left has concocted.My view is that after 2011, when the PS won 39 seats from five seats previously, many want to make believe that there is no problem after all. It’s only something that the left has concocted. We’re good.
Kokoomus’ Petteri Orpo said that the Finnish voters gave it the mandate to instigate right-wing social and economic policy. In plain English, this means hitting the most vulnerable sectors of Finnish society by slashing their social benefits.
The last time we had a right-wing government was in 2015-2019 under Prime Minister Juha Sipilä of the Center Party, where the PS formed part of the government with Kokoomus.
People still remember how Sipilä’s government harmed the unemployed, the education system, and other sectors by slashing public spending. The entry of the PS in government meant a nosedive in opinion polls and implosion, splitting the party into two factions.
One positive outcome of the elections is that parties like the Social Democrats, Left Alliance, Greens, and Swedish People’s Party refuse to form part of a government with the PS.
Better said late than never.
