Radical right Perussuoalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Riikka Purra, like Interior Minister Mari Rantanen, loathes Muslims and other minorities. Slamming and suggesting that Deputy Chancellor of Justice Mikko Puumalainen is a”liberal moron,” exposes her hatred and desperation. Purra, the one who said she’d shoot migrant youths on a train in 2008, now takes out her crystal ball…
Tag: Far-right parties
@onlinehyphen: Geert Wilders’ victory points to a surge in anti-Islam populism across Europe
By Shada Islam* Many mainstream politicians have adopted and amplified the language of the far right Dutch far-right and anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders’ success in this week’s elections in the Netherlands has been widely described as a “shock” result. It is nothing of the sort. Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), whose manifesto calls for bans on mosques…
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen: Spreading wholesale disinformation about Putin
Thursday’s A-talk not only exposed Perussuoomalaiset (PS)* Interior Minister Mari Rantanen’s total disregard and desire to trash international refugee agreements, but her propensity to spread disinformation to her voter base. The logic is the same that we’ve seen throughout history: I hate this group and this entitles me to spread lies about them at will….
Press freedom, the rule of law, and Finland’s radical-right xenophobic party
The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* congress over the weekend raised some questions and new perspectives about the PS’ alternate reality. The hostile attacks by PS chairperson Riikka Purra and speaker of parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, Matti Putkonen, and others as “spineless liars” are a warning of the perilous direction that the party wants to steer Finland. Apart from…
Petteri Orpo’s government of Finland loathes migrants: Is it an overestimation or underestimation?
By now, after numerous scandals, Prime Minister Petteri Opro may be thinking that getting into bed with the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* was a huge mistake that will have far-reaching consequences for the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and even end up costing him his job. If Orpo and PS Finance Minister Riikka Purra had a crystal ball…
Let’s test your level of naivety: Is Finland finally awakening to its “r” problem?
It would be wrong to just blame the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* for Finland’s racism problem. The rise of the PS after the 2011 election would not have been possible without the direct and indirect support of other political parties, the media, and the public. When results of the 2011 election started to appear on television screens,…
Finland’s Prime Minister Orpo’s Pyrrhic victory
The only matter that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s embattled government will gain if it does not go under after its chaotic start on 20 June, is a Pyrrhic victory. In today’s press conference with journalists, Orpo defended Finance Minister Riikka Purra’s apology for her violent and racist comments made in 2008 when she was a…
Finland’s “Chamber of Horrors” government offers a scandal every week
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED Coverage by the international media hasn’t been rosy for Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government. Munich-based daily, Süddeutsche Zeitun, christened it the Chamber of Horrors while Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung called the government’s start “a fiasco.” Of the seven Perussuomalaiset (PS)* ministers, including the speaker of the parliament, Jussi Halla-aho, five have shady…
The problematic far right, racism, misogyny, homophobia and rape delusions of the new Finnish government
The government fuels two matters: loss of credibility and polarization of society. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government, considered the most right wing since the 1930s, faced a storm of controversy on its first day not because of its austerity program, which will hit the most vulnerable sectors of society, but because of its embarrassing links…
Thank you, Sanna Marin for your words of encouragement
There are many surprising factors about Finland’s parliamentary election result in April. One of these is how a progressive government with an internationally acclaimed politician, Sanna Marin, who became the world’s youngest prime minister in 2019 at 34, shifted to a possible conservative and radical right government. Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s speech upon receiving an…