Tag: April election in Finland

Finland election: True Finns score big but Kokoomus wins

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The True Finns should thank their historic victory on troubled countries like Greece, Ireland, Portugal as well as those embattled immigrants, refugees and their children that have had to put with the hostility of such parties. Maybe Timo Soini should thank globalization as well and the ever-increasing social inequality in our country for his victory.

When I started this blog in May 2007 I started to write about immigration and prejudice. The first critics that swarmed on my blog were steadfast about one matter: There was no racism or it was only a minor problem in Finland. These bloggers should take a look at Sunday’s result and what it means.

My hunch in 2007 was correct but it does not make me happy. I would have wanted to have been proven wrong: bigotry and far-right populism are an issue in this country.

With 100% of the votes counted here are the final results: Kokoomus (20.4%/44 seats), Social Democrats (19.1%/42), True Finns (19.0%/39), Center Party (15.8%/35), Leftwing Alliance (8.1%/14), Greens (7.2%/10), Swedish People’s Party (4.3%/9), Christian Democrats (4.0%/6), and ÅS  (0.4%/1).

In Finland the party that wins the election forms government. In this case it is Kokoomus.

BBC: EU bail-out nerves as Finland holds general election

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is another story by the BBC on today’s election. 

The end of the story puts the election result in context: “Whether the True Finns will really [emerge] as champions of the elections is still uncertain but I think we will clearly get a more nationalistic, more conservative, less European-oriented government in Finland,” ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski told Reuters news agency.”

If the True Finns election result turns out to be lower than what some opinion polls suggested it will fuel a lot of debate on the role of such polls in Finnish elections. Unfortunately, the media and the public have accepted the results of these opinion polls as the final result of the election.  We all know that the ballot boxes have the final say.

If the True Finns get less than 20 seats it will be an upset for Timo Soini’s party.

What do you think?

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Finns have gone to the polls to elect a new parliament in a vote that may affect future EU bail-outs if a rising nationalist party does well.

Read whole story.

Finland election: Flirting with isolationism and xenophobia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

In our neck of the woods in the Nordic region, ultra-nationalistic and xenophobic parties have made their mark in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and most likely now in Finland on Sunday when the True Finns are expected to score a historic victory. Will the election embolden other xenophobic parties in this region and Europe? Will it send shock ripples in the EU?

It’s pretty doubtful that parties like the True Finns have any answer to those questions because they base much of their rhetoric on populism and denial. Since Finns are the biggest per-capita coffee drinkers in the world, a good example of our populism would be adding salt to sour coffee in order to make it taste better.

Instead of solving our problems, a large group of voters have preferred to sprinkle the salt of isolationism and xenophobia on our reality.

Depending on the scale of the True Finns’ victory, the next thing we may see after Sunday’s election will be a stream of far-right party leaders flocking to Finland from the Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats, British National Party, Jobbik of Hungary and none other than Geert Wilders of the Isalmophobic Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Are we afraid of these twenty-first century fanatics? Not at all because their example have shown us that xenophobia and racism have not been nipped in the bud in Europe.

Even though the True Finns may score a big victory on Sunday, they will not be a majority. That majority comprises of sensible Finns who are not lured by xenophobia, isolationism and corny political soundbites from True Finns’ chairman Timo Soini.

Xenophobia and ignorance are curable social diseases.

The original link was taken down.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOgc5WH0yW4]

However, here’s the latest one:

I apologize for the racist and provocative content of this campaign ad by Jussi Halla-aho and Teemu Lahtinen, both of which are running for the True Finns and are members of the far-right Suomen Sisu association. Apart from being xenophobic, the turban worn by the potato appears to be Indian. Is this against Indian IT-immigrants or some legal loophole? Both Halla-aho and Lahtinen reveal their shameful ignorance on a grand scale. Here is a video showing Lahtinen at a far-right march in France.

BBC: True Finns’ nationalism colours Finland election

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Comment: The BBC is one of many media in Europe that will be covering the April 17 election.  It writes: “The True Finns saw political potential among the neglected people in society. Their political message is two-fold: social-democratic welfare combined with nationalism and xenophobia.”

The BBC continues by stating that Finland is officially a bilingual country but Timo Soini’s party has no room for Swedish: “It excludes Swedish as something unfamiliar to Finnish culture.”

I’ll never forget an analyst in the early 1990s who pointed out that devaluating the Finnish markka was like pissing in one’s pants in winter. At first it feels good but later on the sensation changes.

Could this be a good description of the election and especially for all those who believe that the True Finns are a sensible answer to the challenges the country presently faces?

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An anti-immigration party in Finland – the True Finns – has surged in popularity and could produce a surprise in Sunday’s general election, opinion polls suggest.

Read whole story.

Thank you for this link @Mastersson

Should Finland thank Halla-aho?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The chairman of the True Finns, Timo Soini, said on Thursday’s election debate that we should be thankful to Jussi Halla-aho for tightening our immigration policy and, strangely enough, for the ongoing debate on Finland’s cultural diversity.

The head of the True Finns plays with fire whenever he attempts to justify the open hostility of some of his party members towards minorities. An attack on a specific group should be treated as an attack on all minorities.

The ongoing debate in Finland concerning the role of the Swedish-speaking minority is a direct outcome of the type of hatred and discord that has been fuelled by Halla-aho and his far-right ideological followers.

The obsession of some politicians against certain immigrant groups like the Somalis is disgraceful. It is even more shameful considering that they do so for short-term electoral gains.

One of the most incredible about-turns in Soini’s stand came this week when he told a group of German journalists that he stood behind the government immigration policy. After fanning the flames of xenophobia in Finland, he now states that the True Finns were bluffing all along.

Should we then thank Halla-aho as Soini suggests?

Yes, for showing the worst side of ourselves as a society.

HS: Soini antoi tukensa hallituksen ulkomaalaispolitiikalle

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Timo Soini, the chairman of the True Finns party, appears to be backtracking on his party’s promise of a tougher stand on immigration policy by telling a group of  German journalists that he surprisingly supports the government’s present line.

Possibly the correct question that should be now asked of the chairman of the True Finns is what does he really think of those in his party that have been spreading xenophobia wholesale. Is his endorsement of government immigration policy a thumbs down to the far-right Suomen Sisu wing of  the True Finns?

One of the most worrying aspects of the True Finns’ message is that it had been based on a systematic smear campaign of immigrants, immigration policy and the integration program, which was ranked fourth in a Mipex survey after Sweden, Portugal and Canada.

One of the challenges that Soini will have to live with after April 17 is keeping his party in line. This will not be an easy task. Soini won’t get off the hook so easy because he will have to live with the unstable political monster he’s created. If anyone has read Saami mythology,  the Stallo monster is a good comparison of that True Finns monster.

Meanwhile, Helsingin Sanomat published on Tuesday a poll that showed that support for the True Finns had retreated by a hefty 1.5% to 16.9%. Kokoomus got 20.3% followed by the Social Democrats (18.0%) and the Center Party (17.9%).

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Jaakko Hautamäki

Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Timo Soini ei nähnyt mitään ongelmaa Suomen hallituksen ulkomaalaispolitiikassa, kun hän antoi haastattelun saksalaisille toimittajille Sanomatalossa tiistaina. Soini antoi täyden tukensa hallituksen ulkomaalaispolitiikalle ja puolittain suutahti, kun toimittajat kyselivät hänen mahdollisesta muukalaisvihamielisyydestään.

Read whole story.

Karjalainen: Koko suomalaisuus on lainaa vain

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Comment: Below is a story that was published in the Joensuu-based daily Karjalainen, which questions the myths surrounding Finnish identity. Even if parties that base part of their image on maintaining the country “white” by depriving people who come from different backgrounds, the nationalist-populist True Finns’ television ad is based on an Italian song by Toto Cutugno, L’italiano.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that the True Finns are one party capitalizing on our national myths. Certainly other parties do it but they are more careful. At least they understand the dangers of arguing for nineteenth century myths of the world and cultures in 2011.

One of the most interesting matters to study about Finnish history and national identity is where and why it came about. Even though some want to give us the impression that Finns are a homogenous group, nothing could be further from the truth.  Much of our identity as a nation is based on threat of the outside world and erasing or forgetting our history.

Migrant Tales has written about this before. See An insult to over a million Finns.

People who suffer from such amnesia readily forget that over one million Finns emigrated from this country in the last two centuries.  Many of us who emigrated from this country come today from diverse cultural backgrounds. We still call ourselves Finns.

If I had a complaint about the way some view our history and national identity, it is narrow-mindedness. When we play around with myths like national identity too seriously we run the danger of excluding others who have a rightful claim to this country.

The acceptance of “others” as members of this society is vital because our future as a dynamic and successful nation depends on it.

Monoculturalism is only an excuse used by some to exclude.

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Terhi Nevalainen

Ihan hätkäytti, kun perussuomalaisten televisiomainos sattui silmiin – tai itse asiassa korviin. Mainoksessa ääni laulaa sanan perussuomalainen täsmälleen samalla nuotilla kuin laulussa Olen suomalainen.

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MTV3:n puoluegallup: Perussuomalaiset laskussa

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Comment: This is the first poll that shows that the populist True Finns may have reached their zenith and that their popularity is weaning.  A poll commissioned by MTV3 showed in March that only 16.2% (-0.8%) would vote for the True Finns. Kokoomus and the Center Party were near-tied at 19.9% and 19.8%, respectively. The Social Democrats came in third with 18.1%.

As mentioned in previous posts, polls should be treated as polls.  However, it is pretty significant that the True Finns, which have been the rising star of the polls, are now seeing their popularity heading south.

A lot of people are very concerned about the prospect of a large populist, anti-immigrant and anti-EU party in Finland.  The attacks by other parties, media and normal voters of  the True Finns have probably start to bite.  One of the eeriest things that the head of the True Finns, Timo Soini, likes to say is that he aims to break the stranglehold of the three largest parties over Finnish politics.

In a typical True Finns style he does not mention with what he plans to replace the three parties with.

Finns go to the polls on April 17.

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MTV3:n puoluegallupin mukaan kokoomuksen ja keskustan kannatus on käytännössä tasoissa. Kokoomusta kannattaa 19,9 prosenttia ja keskustaa 19,8 prosenttia suomalaisista. Kolmantena on SDP 18,1 prosentin kannatuksella ja neljäntenä perussuomalaiset, jonka kannatus on 16,2 prosenttia.

To keep on reading click here.

YLE: Maahanmuuttajaehdokkaita yhä vain kourallinen

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Comment: Here is an interesting story by YLE about candidates in the April 17 election with immigrant backgrounds. What is a bit disturbing about the story is that there are different definitions on what constitutes an immigrant. One of the candidates, for example, has an Ethiopian father but was born in Espoo.

Why do they make a big thing about these candidates background? Aren’t they Finns since they are citizenship?

Even if by a miracle all of the 48 candidates with immigrant backgrounds got elected, it would not even constitute a majority in the 200-seat Eduskunta.

The party with the most “immigrant” candidates were the Greens and the True Finns with the least.

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Maahanmuutto on yksi eduskuntavaalien kuumimmista puheenaiheista. Maahanmuuttajaehdokkaita on kuitenkin vaaleissa vain 45. Määrä riippuu myös laskutavasta. Maahanmuuttajaksi on laskettu myös ehdokkaita, joiden isä tai äiti on ulkomaalainen.

The read on click here.


YLE: Maahanmuutto jakaa edustajaehdokkaita

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is an interesting story published by YLE on how immigration is a hot issue in the election. One of the questions (number 5) on the YLE questionnaire to the candidates asks if  “immigration and tax support (to this group) should be tightened?” Those candidates and parties that “totally agreed” with the statement were the True Finns and other anti-immigration parties like Muutos2011 and Vapauspuolue.

The majority of the candidates of Kokoomus and the Center Party were “somewhat in favor” of tightening immigration policy and tax support. The majority (49%) of the Social Democrat candidates, however, were “somewhat of a different opinion.” Fifty-seven percent of the candidates of the Swedish People’s Party were “totally against” tightening immigration policy and tax support.

The majority of the Greens (57%) were “somewhat in favor” of tightening policy and tax support.

One of the big questions we have to ask of those that are asking for stricter controls is what they want to tighten if the present law is already pretty strict?

One candidate from my constituency said that it was ok to lower tax support to immigrants because Finland pays some of the highest support in Europe. The candidate forgot to tell us, however, that if we take cost of living into account such benefits are in line with the European Union average.

The stance and the willingness of some candidates to use the immigrant-bashing card to get votes is a sad reality of Finland today.

Do you agree?

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Maahanmuuttajien vastaanottaminen ja tukeminen verovaroin jakaa kansanedustajaehdokkaita. YLEn vaalikoneen perusteella perussuomalaisten vanavedessä tiukennuksia kaipaavat erityisesti oikeistopuolueet, kuten kokoomus. Liberaalimpaa mielipidettä ylläpitävät RKP, vasemmisto ja vihreät. SDP seilaa muiden välissä.

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