US President Joe Biden warned in a recent speech that his country’s democracy is in peril. He pointed the finger at former President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again or Make Attorneys Get Attorneys) followers.
We asked in a recent posting if Biden labeled MAGA Republicans “semi-fascists,” why couldn’t we call the far-right Perussuonalaiset (PS)* the same?
Even if the PS’ and other radical-right followers have not yet stormed Parliament like on January 6 at the Capitol, the party’s far-right brand of rhetoric has caused a lot of harm to our democratic institutions. The hate speech they spread against migrants and minorities is one of many examples.
True, the PS wants to sanitize its hateful rhetoric because they want to form part of a next government after the April parliamentary election.
Who is Mäenpää? He’s the PS MP who called asylum seekers “invasive species” and did not face an ethnic agitation charges since his parliamentary immunity was not lifted.
In 2015, when Finland received over 30,000 asylum seekers mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, he said that God had answered his prayers when a building, which was supposed to be used to house asylum seekers, was razed to the ground.
The police have never found the suspects who burned the building.
The building was located near Kankaanpää in Western Finland, where five suspects were apprehended separately in December for suspected terrorism.
I interviewed the far-right ethnonationalist Suomen Sisu member and MP Mäenpää, in 2015. He warned that, “Politicians should wake up to the situation. If they don’t it could spark a civil war.”
“Spark a civil war?!” That’s pretty scary coming from a politician who is capable of any kind of incitement if given the opportunity. Using such words today would make it especially concerning.
The media and us should never forget what these types of politicians spew from their mouths.
