Riikka Purra is the chairperson of the radical right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, which has made its political career by bullying minorities like Muslims. Since most of their xenophobic arguments are based on lies and smears, it should not surprise anyone that they’d break their election promises rapidly.
One of the biggest promises that the PS made during before the election was that they would not accept any austerity measures that would affect the most vulnerable sectors of society like the unemployed, single mothers and others.
The original campaign promise and how Purra eventually ate her words: “The difference between parties like the National Coalition Party and us is that they want to cut [social] support for lower-income people. This is unacceptable for us.”
If you look at the new government’s program, the biggest cuts will be made in health care (1.3 billion) and social security (1.2 billion) to the tune of 2.5 billion euros. It’s clear that such cuts are going to bite hard at those people who depend on social welfare to make it through the month.
How Purra flip-flops on her promise: “We are happy with the [government] program and the PS has decided to form part of this government. There were no dissenting voices. The decision was unanimous.”
Dmitry Gurbanov Tweeted that Purra’s U-turn is a Finnish record!
