Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari has done it again. He didn’t lambast immigrants and Muslims this time, but got publicly enraged with a journalist working for Lahti-based Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (ESS). What happened? Ari Helminen reported that Hirvisaari, together with another PS MP, had the most absences in parliament during spring.
Hirvisaari is from Asikkala, a town located near Lahti.
The news, that Hirvisaari and PS MP Ismo Soukkola had been absent from eight parliamentary sessions without an excuse, was apparently too much for the MP. Hirvisaari tweeted that ESS’ Helminen had “betrayed his trust” and that he will never greet or answer the journalist’s phone calls.
”…I don’t want to have anything to do with liars,” he continued. ”The worst rotten journalism [in Finland] is by TS [Turun Sanomat] and ESS. Extreme abuse of power, unfair and manipulation of people’s [opinion].”
Hirvisaari’s former aide, Helena Eronen, who wrote about sleeve badges in April last year, blamed Turun Sanomat for taking her opinion piece out of context.
Read PS MP James Hirvisaari’s tweets here.
Reading about Hirvisaari’s outbursts is nothing new from this cantankerous politician, but sadly reveals why Finland has become a country where intolerance and hatred have raised their heads big time.
Migrant Tales wrote back in May: ”Every time a PS MP like Hirvisaari opens his mouth, he actually helps the PS lose its appeal among voters and what’s important its chances of being a partner in a future government.”
Hirvisaari was sentnced for ethnic agitation in 2011.
Even so, he has continued to insult gays, immigrants and visible minorities in Finland. His far right Islamophobic credentials were reinforced when he announced that he publicly supports the Finnish Defense League.