THE STORY WAS UPDATED
Being a minority in Finland is being nearly always suspicious of official intentions.
Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Riikka Purra reiterated her party’s aim to exclude foreign residents from getting social welfare. According to her, the only ones who qualify for social welfare are Finnish citizens.
The radical-right politician added that such plans would not materialize in the next political term but was a long-range plan.
The fact that she can make such a statement reveals a lot about how racism has entered Finnish politics. Her party’s aim is synonymous with what is happening in Afghanistan today with women’s rights.
But the icing on the racist cake is the silence coming from parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and others concerning Purra’s statement about disenfranchising foreign residents in Finland. After a second try, Kokoomus’ head of communication, Kirsi Holtta, said that the party not believe that social security should be based on nationality.
Purra’s wish to exclude non-Finnish citizens will do wonders to attract foreign labor to the country and promote values like social equality and inclusion. We’ll tell, under Purra’s guidance, foreigners who move here that they are legally second- and third-class citizens.
As everyone knows, the plan by Purra requires a change in the constitution. Section 6 now reads that everyone is equal before the law, but that will change to everyone is not equal before the law.
Before Adolf Hitler took over power in Germany in 1933, many saw him as a joke. Many tinpot dictators like Viktor Orbán and others are seen as jokes, but that changes when they take over power.
Should we see Purra and her band of PS politicians as a joke?
I wouldn’t. But I’d also place in the same category leadership from parties like Kokoomus, Christian Democrats, and others, which is shameful.