It took a while, but, in the end, it came: MP Ano Turtiainen got sacked Friday from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party after being expelled in June from the PS parliamentary group. The interesting question that the PS board’s decision offers is what it means for the party and Turtiainen’s political future.
An incident between PS Speaker of Parliament Juho Eerola and Turtiainen after a session was the stick that broke the camel’s back. Eerola had asked Turtiainen, who believes that Covid-19 is a conspiracy, to wear a mask while in a parliamentary session.
The comment by Eerola angered Turtiainen, and he started to insult the speaker of parliament in the hallway.
For the PS, the incident shows how little due diligence they do on their party members. If you hate migrants, gays, and feminists, that’s ok.
By kicking out a member, who is an MP, is already a serious matter. The PS board made its decision to save the party’s skin and dubious reputation. There are no ethical considerations except for the fear that Turtiainen can undermine the party’s popularity.
Turtiainen is from the small town of Juva in eastern Finland. He has not only harmed the PS but his political future and the town of Juva.
MP Turtiainen was elected to parliament in 2019 with 3,264 votes. He was convicted for inciting violence against an asylum reception center, and has even encouraged people to take up arms and start a civil war. He’s claimed that Ebola is nature’s way of keeping Africa’s population in check.
One more matter: Turtiainen has also been charged and convicted for beating a minor.
Isn’t it “odd” that the PS was willing to look the other way before but now wants to sack Turtiainen?
Who would want to invest or move to a town where an MP rages in racist soundbites and who believes that the Covid-19 pandemic is a conspiracy? We know that Turtiainen likes former US President Donald Trump. He should be asked if he likes US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right conspiracy theorist.
I would not be surprised if he would also give the thumbs up to Greene.
Turtiainen and his brief relationship with the PS reveal how numb we have become in Finland to politicians and their racism and shameless indecency.
With near tears and a poker face, the now-former PS member rambles on in a Facebook posting about how he was used and how the party and how that party is pushing away “sincere” politicians like him who are not afraid to speak the truth.
Anything new?
Yes, at the end of his Facebook posting, he claims that the PS does not want to change the date of the municipal elections on April 18 because it would run out of campaign issues.
“Due to Corona, immigration is not seen any longer as a big problem, and therefore their campaign message would be a laughingstock.”
Turtiainen’s term in parliament will amount to one term.
I wonder who is the laughingstock now?
Further reading
- Ano Turtiainen, the Finnish MP who mocked George Floyd’s death gives the thumbs up to Greece’s “open sea” policy (16.8.2020)
- Ano Turtiainen: the PS doesn’t love me, I love the PS – watch me now eat my words (25.6.2020)
- Two Islamophobes in a pod: Juha Mäenpää and Ano Turtiainen of Finland (18.6.2020)
- Finnish MP who mocked George Floyd: You are not suspected of ethnic agitation, you are suspected of ethnic agitation (15.6.2020)
- The PS jump from one scandal to the next (14.6.2020)
- Apologize now Ano Turtiainen, the Finnish MP who mocked George Floyd’s death. Apologize now! (13.6.2020)
- Some of Ano Turtiainen’s most racist and repugnant posts (10.6.2020)
- Ano Turtiainen and Finland’s #BlackLivesMatter movement (8.6.2020)
- Ano Turtiainen’s career as “a dark comedian” and politician go down in flames (5.6.2020)
- MP Ano Turtainen gets expelled from the party until the end of the year for his racist tweet against George Floyd (4.6.2020)
- The awkward timing of PS’ and Turtiainen’s racist tweet against George Floyd (3.6.2020)
- Finnish PS MP Ano Turtiainen jokes about George Floyd in a racist manner (3.6.2020)
