One of the interesting questions that the sacking of MP James Hirvisaari raises is if it is the first visible crack that will force the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party to implode, eventually. Is Timo Soini’s PS a ticking time bomb and Hirvisaari a time counter indicating that we’ve got ten seconds to seek cover before the bomb explodes?
Even if it is still too early to say, the Hirvisaari episode is an indication of the festering ideological sickness that the party suffers.
Miska Rantanen of Helsingin Sanomat believes that while its still to early to say if the party will suffer the same fate as the Rural Party in the 1970s, the PS looks like a tired team of players that are fouling out.
The Rural Party, which evolved into the PS in the 1990s, won the 1970 election with 17 seats from one in the previous election. The party, however, imploded due to internal bickering and differences.
Since intolerance, xenophobia and prejudice exist thanks to hot air comprising of inflated exaggerations and gross generalizations, anti-immigration politicians like Hirvisaari need to continually raise the bar to keep their followers entertained. Like dictators, they eventually lose touch with reality and fall from political grace.
While politicians like Soini are trying to wash their hands of Hirvisaari, we shouldn’t forget that it was he who helped Hirvisaari to get elected. Not only did Soini help Hirvisaari he left the PS door ajar for other far-right nationalists and racists.
Like Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja wrote, Soini made a pack with the devil when he brought them on board.
