Far-right parties Archives - Page 8 of 37

Keep it up, Riikka Purra, don’t stop now. Kick out all the migrants and “let God sort ’em out.”

Posted on February 17, 2022 by Migrant Tales

There are a lot of baffled faces at the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. “Did you see our regional election result?!” one asks while the other states: “A Yle poll saw us nosedive by 3.3 percentage points to 15%. and now Helsingin Sanomat reinforces the latter.”

In our opinion, the PS is a far-right party that beats mainly the anti-immigration drum. The party is so obsessed with anti-immigration themes that it lost, a long time ago, its good sense if it ever had any.

Its good showing in the 2011, 2015, and 2019 parliamentary elections hinges on its anti-immigration theme. Before 2011, Finland was being intoxicated with racism from politicians like Jussi Halla-aho, the 2015 election was helped by a sexual assault case in Helsinki, and in 2019 by the overblown sexual assault cases of Oulu.

All of the PS 39 MPs elected in 2019 had an anti-immigration platform.

So what gives? Why are the PS facing a crisis in the polls?

Contrary to the past, politicians are more outspoken and openly question the PS racist and far-right ideology. Voters are also getting tired of hearing, like a broken and scratched record, the same anti-immigration theme over and over again.

Moreover, the PS has lurched further into the far-right thanks to Halla-aho and its new chairperson, Riikka Purra, who parrots what the former chairperson says.

If this type of strategy by the PS does not work and forces the party to suffer election losses, I hope that they continue spreading the same hateful rhetoric until they are blue in the face. More of Halla-aho, Purra, Mauri “Perkele” Peltokangas, Jani Mäkelä and a long list of others.

Keep up the “good” work, PS!

Kick out all the migrants, “let God sort ’em out.”

Convicted PS MP of ethnic agitation voted to chair parliament’s foreign affairs committee

Posted on February 16, 2022 by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

The new chairperson of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Jussi Halla-aho, did not get such a warm reception. In a highly unprecedented move by the committee members, 11 voted in a secret ballot in favor of Halla-aho while six abstained.

Halla-aho took over the committee’s chair Mika Niikko, its former chairperson, resigned in disgrace after suggesting that some Western leader should assure Russia that Ukraine will not seek Nato membership.

Even if the PS wouldn’t care less, too many in Finland have not forgotten who Halla-aho is and that he was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion. The former PS chairperson’s writings in the 2000s are full of racist Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, or for suggesting that three women politicians be raped by foreigners.

Halla-aho has not apologized or regretted his past writings.

Below are some of his recent tweets:

Halla-aho tweets (left) that we’d have “no reason to masturbate” if there were no news about migration and asylum seekers. On the right, he states: “Trump is the best thing that happened in a long time to the United States and the Western world.” Source: Twitter

Considering that people like Halla-aho could build a political future by spreading racism, those very things he said have come back to haunt and bite him.

He might get a lot of votes, but he would never become prime minister, never mind president.

Thanks to Halla-aho, the PS has become even more racist and openly flirted with neo-Nazi and far-right groups.

Should we be surprised that six MPs abstained on Halla-aho’s appointment to chair the foreign affairs committee?

Not at all.

His racist writings and opinions will follow him till the end of his days.

The far-right Perussuomalaiset head south in the opinion polls

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

There’s good news and bad news. Depending on your perspective, bad news can be good news and vice-versa. In the latest opinion poll published by Yle, the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party saw its support nosedive by three percentage points to 15%.

While it would be simplistic only to blame the regional election, other factors like PS chairperson Riikka Purra’s poor leadership, living in large and small populist bubbles, and brainless nationalism are just a few factors that contributed to the fall in popularity.

But above all, I have to thank the PS team that put together the last campaign strategy, namely MP Mauri “Perkele” Peltokangas, party secretary Arto Luukkanen, and Purra, who gave their blessing to such populist malarkey.

Imagine the party raised the issue of petrol prices at the pumps and so-called harmful migration as their main campaign message in the regional election, which will decide on health care and emergency services.

Regional councils cannot decide on petrol prices or immigration policy.

**regional election show the far-right Perussuomalaiset suffering a big setback. Source: Yle**

The sources of Finland’s far-right problem: downplaying and denial

Posted on December 18, 2021 by Migrant Tales

“The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated ‘lone wolves’ but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.”

Mihai Varga

Over two weeks have elapsed since the police announced the detention of five white-Finn terrorist suspects in the Western Finnish city of Kankaanpää. Reaction to the detention has varied, but one matter is for sure: Denial shrouds our ability to identify and challenge the social ill.

The terrorist suspects of Kankaanpää are no joke. They meant business but does Finland mean business when challenging such groups? Is our exceptionalism blinding us from tackling the social ill? Photo: Police

Denial comes in many ways:

The terrorist suspects are a lone detached splinter group
Even if the suspects had committed acts of violence and promoted their far-right white nationalist ideology in Kankaanpää before, the rector of the Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (SAMK), Jari Multisilta, downplayed the threat
Contrary to what some students felt that SAMK hadn’t given them enough support, Multisilta was quoted as saying in Yle that there was no threat to the fine arts campus in Kankaanpää by the suspects and that the authorities had not been in touch with the university
The fact that the police had not been in contact with SAMK about the threat reveals how they may have downplayed the problem in Kankaanpää
In 2015, a new asylum reception center was razed to the ground; we still don’t know who the possible suspects are and if like-minded groups carried it out
Yle A-studio airs over a week after the detentions a talk show about far-right violence with researcher Leena Malkki and police Superintendant Jari Tapanen
If the detained suspects were Muslims, a talk show and reaction would be much swifter
In the talk show, the rise of far-right terrorist violence is blamed on social media and an issue facing young people
There is no mention about how Finnish society and the police are responding to the rise of far-right terrorism and ideology
There is no mention about how Islamophobia can be a bridge between far-right ideology and terrorism
Why didn’t the A-studio program bring up how the rise of populist parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, far-right associations like Suomen Sisu among their ranks and their close links with even neo-Nazi groups promote far-right ideology are fertile ground for acts of terrorism?
The PS is the biggest party of the Kankaanpää city council
Why do we still know so little about this group and other ones that may be conspiring to carry out acts of terrorism?

Downplaying and whitewashing the far-right threat in Finland

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Migrant Tales

It is disappointing to note that it took Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, five days to write an editorial on the threat posed by the far-right after the detention of five white Finns on Friday. Considering the media attention and general outrage in general that Abderrahman Mechkah knife attack caused in Turku in 2017, a question emerges: were the suspects in Kakaanpää the wrong type of terrorists?

**Pictures apprehended of the terrorist suspects. Source: Police**

Moreover, the suggestion that the Kankaanpää suspects were some isolated splinter group detached from society is an example of how the problem is being whitewashed. As Mihai Varga stated: “The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated ‘lone wolves’ but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.”

The PS was, is, and will be a party with close ties to neo-Nazi and fascist groups

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Migrant Tales

From the days when Timo Soini headed the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to the present, there’s one denial coming from the party that is an outright lie: The PS is not a far-right party with links to neo-Nazi, fascist and far-right groups.

I could list several examples, but let’s look at Kansallismielisten liittouma, a perfect example of the PS links with far-right groups. Eight of the 13 persons (61.5%) in the picture below are or were PS members.

Remember when PS MP Juho Eerola’s aide, Ulla Pyysalo, was caught seeking membership in Pohjoismaisen vastarintaliike (PVL), a neo-Nazi association?

There are many, many other shameful examples. You would have to be very susceptible to believe that the PS is not a far-right party set on destroying our democracy and Nordic way of life.

One notable guest of Kansallismielisten liitouma is Antti Niemi, the former head of PVL’s Finnish chapter.

How long will Finns put up with these types of politicians and parties and vote them out of power?

A trail of xenophobic and far-right violence in Finland and yet no suspects

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Migrant Tales

The detention of five far-right terrorist suspects in the western Finnish city of Kankaanpää Friday raises many questions. One of these is the collaboration of this group and others in the burning down of an asylum reception center in December 2015.

The asylum reception center in Kankaanpää wasn’t the only one that suffered arson attacks.

Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP, Ano Turtiainen, was convicted in 2018 for inciting violence against the Finnish Red Cross, which manages many asylum reception centers. The conviction has its roots in a 2015 Facebook post “liked” by PS MEP Laura Huhtasaari.

If we connect the dots and start asking the right questions about what happened from 2015, the answers we may get can be revealing exposing strange and not-so-strange bedfellows.

Moreover, it would be wishful and careless thinking to believe that the terrorist suspects in Kankaanpää acted alone and were totally detached from society.

Mihai Varga hit it right on the dot: “The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated ‘lone wolves’ but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.”

For those who don’t remember, a building going to house asylum seekers was set alight was burned down in December 2015 in Niinisalo, located a stone’s throw from Kankaanpää. Perussuomalaiset MP Juho Mäenpää, elected to parliament in 2019 but a member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association, claimed jubilantly back then after the arson attack: “Great. There is a god. My prayers have been answered.”

A Finnish Islamophobic party’s recipe for inclusion and ethnic understanding

Posted on November 29, 2021 by Migrant Tales

Since the 2011 parliamentary elections, which saw the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party win 39 starts from 5 seats previously, it has systematically tarred and feathered migrants, especially Muslims, people of color, and specific minorities.

Should you be surprised that all PS MPs elected in 2019 based their campaign on an anti-immigration message.

The PS demands that Finland should strive for zero asylum seekers (code for Muslims). Those that remain in Finland must endure the constant racism, labeling, and bombardment of their group.

PS MP Minna Reijonen epitomizes this toxicity in a question to the government during a session of parliament.

Source: YouTube

MP Reijonen parrots the PS’ populist and racist stance of migrants and minorities, planting the seeds of future social strife.

The cracks are beginning to show

Posted on October 23, 2021 by Migrant Tales

Islamophobia and other forms of racism are for some politicians their gateway to power and infamy.

Watching part of the firey debate Wednesday in parliament that led to a vote of confidence for the government, one wonders what some politicians, especially with the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, have in their heads.

The saddest matter was the bullying and false claims about migrants, nothing more than storms in teacups.

Those politicians and parties who only think beyond their noses are doomed to hitting a wall.

They are heading towards such a fate because they believe that Islamophobic and other racist soundbites will help them to have and retain power and influence.

After launching an aggressive campaign and burning up a lot of money in the municipal elections of June, the PS came in fourth place despite some polls, which showed it to come out on top.

The result was a huge disappointment and the party gasped for air.

If there is a crack line in the PS, their disappointing result in the municipal election is an indication that the public is growing weary of their broken-record scapegoat-migrant approach.

How Finland’s biggest daily Helsingin Sanomat loses its teeth and watchdog role

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Migrant Tales

For the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, Helsingin Sanomat gives the country’s largest opposition party the kid-glove treatment. Are fear, agreement, or hopeful naivety the driving forces behind Helsingin Sanomat’s recent articles about the PS?

Over the weekend, the daily published in its Kuukausiliite a big story about PS MEP Laura Huhtasaari, who is trying to make a political name for herself by becoming Finland’s Nigel Farage.

The journalist Jenni Virtanen, who wrote the story, described the PS’ membership in the ID Group of the European Parliament in the following terms:

ID Group is at the far end of the right-wing and is clearly in the opposition. The group has 72 MEPs against the parliament’s 705. The majority of the groups [in the European Parliament] are pro-EU. Source: Twitter

As a non-white Finn, I would have expected that the Helsingin Sanomat article would tell people like me how both candidates will continue to make life difficult for members of our ever-growing culturally and ethnically diverse community. Moreover, 16% of Helsinki residents speak another language other than Finnish or Swedish as their mother tongue.

Why didn’t Virtanen use the term far-right in describing the ID Group? Some of the distinguished members of that EU parliamentary group include the National Rally (Marine Le Pen), Lega (Matteo Salvini), and other far-right parties like FPÖ of Austria, Alternative for Germany, Danish People’s Party, the Dutch Party for Freedom, among four others including the PS.

On Monday, Helsingin Sanomat readers got another chance to continue to see the daily’s biased journalism. Joona Aaltonen wrote:

**Read the full story (in Finnish) here.**

In the story, which looked at the main policy differences between the two leading contenders for chairperson of the PS, not a word is mentioned if Sakari Puisto and Riikka Purra still believe in the great replacement theory and how much they would tighten immigration policy.

We know how much Purra has warned white Finns about how they will become a minority in the future. She even went as far as to state that she “could intuitionally” spot a Finn in public.

From the article, we don’t know if Purra and Puisto continue to push ethnonationalism and how much white Finnish supremacy malarkey they believe in.

The article states that both candidates are ideologically close to Halla-aho and thereby suggests that both are also white Finnish supremacists.