There are two opinions about the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* membership in a future coalition government led by the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus): Let them join so the public will see who they are – a cantankerous and messy jumble of bitter hot air; and others point to giving former President Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt, which gave us his toxic polarizing legacy.
We are going through the same arguments about the PS as after the 2011 election when the party scored a historic victory when the party got 39 MPs elected from 5 MPs previously.
“Don’t worry,” some pointed out back then. “It will only be a matter of time before the PS will implode like what happened with the Rural Party (SMP) in the 1970s,”
In 2017, the election of Jussi Halla-aho as the leader of the PS resulted in a small implosion that divided the party into two factions. This event marked the downfall of former PS chief Timo Soini and serves as a prime example of karma. Politically exploiting racism is akin to handling a rabid dog that may bite back with force beyond your control.
Soini is today a wounded politician with his credibility in tatters.
The same fate that Soini suffered threatens Petteri Orpo and the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus).
We should not be surprised that the PS’ second chairperson after Soini, Riikka Purra, considers our constitutional and human rights obstacles to her political ambitions and goals. Her political ideology like that of the party, is based on Finnish white supremacy.
Riikka Purra tweets: “The Finnish government has little chance of influencing anything if you ask the left. The obstacles are at least human rights, the constitution, the EU, international treaties, morality, empathy, [international] image, press freedom, and of course, the correct conclusion[s] of botched investigation[s].”
It would be simplistic to blame only Soini for the rise of a far-right party in Finland. The list includes the whole political spectrum, the media, the education sector, institutions like the police, and denial with a towering D.
Here is a good chart of why the PS should be called a far-right party. Thank you, Oula Silvenoinen for the heads-up.
Sadly and shamefully, some in Finland consider the far-right politics of the PS as normal. It shows how low Finland has stooped. Caving into a world – with Kokoomus’ blassings – of PS conspiracy politics is like jumping into the abyss of fascism where human rights are seen as a threat.
The row between PS MP Sebastian Tynkkynen, who chairs government talks on digital communications, and Kokoomus’ Orpo occurred this week when the PS MP asked his followers which YLE content and channels are unnecessary.
Tynkkynen was convicted three times for ethnic agitation.
Orpo said it was not the government’s role to oversee and approve journalistic content. Purra half-heartedly agreed.
Tynkkynen hit back at Orpo on social media claiming what he said was “a big mistake.”
