It’s clear that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a different party after this weekend, when Jussi Halla-aho, Laura Huhtasaari, Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola were elected to lead the anti-immigrant and anti-EU party. Halla-aho spoke of in his policy speech of “nationalistic forces,” which is code for anti-immigration, anti-cultural diversity and anti-EU policies.
Halla-aho said that the PS should align itself with such forces in the Nordic region, which means Islamophobic parties like the Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats and the Progress Party of Norway.
Halla-aho will meet at 10am with Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and National Coalition Party head Petteri Orpo about whether the PS will continue to be in government.
Read the full story here.
Considering that Halla-aho and PS second vice president Hakkarainen have convictions for ethnic agitation, and that Huuhtasaari and Eerola have a dubious reputation because of their acceptance of fascism and hostility towards cultural diversity, it is surprising that no newspaper in Finland asked a single Somali Finn, Muslim or visible minority what they thought about the “new” PS.
This is unfortunate. When newspapers like Helsingin Sanomat and YLE forget to ask members of the Somali and Muslim community what they feel about the near-constant racist attacks by Halla-aho and the PS, it reveals and exposes a serious problem: white privilege and power. It’s like asking only men what they think of rape.
The PS is the only party in modern Finland that has told voters that “it will solve the Somali and Muslim problem.”
While members of our ever-growing culturally diverse community haven’t been put in box cars yet, the only solution that people like Halla-aho have is to label and victimize us. Halla-aho hasn’t ever apologized for his racist writings and labeling people from the Horn of Africa as “human scum.”
Migrant Tales will interview members of our culturally diverse community and ask them what they think about Halla-aho and the new leadership of the PS.
One person that we got in touch with Sunday, a Somali woman who moved to Finland as a child, expressed concern because it reinforced what she’s always known about this country.
“It is shocking and if the Center Party and National Coalition Party don’t tell the PS to leave it’s clear that Finland is a racist country
.”
“I’m worried about the election of Halla-aho because it shows that we are moving backwards as a country,” a young Somali male who had lived in Finland for 12 years told Migrant Tales.
Halla-aho and the new direction of the PS is not only a white Finnish issue but should involve all members of society, especially those that have been at the receiving end of the party’s near-constant racism and bigotry.
* The official translation to Finnish of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is the Finns Party. In our opinion, it is not only a horrible translation, but one that is misguided. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Such terms like the Finns Party of True Finns promote as well in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and thereafter the acronym PS.