There is a sense of déjà vu as the municipal elections in Finland near on April 18. Once again, the media is not questioning or challenging the toxic message of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, but showing its usual tacit approval.
The most notable examples of this type of approval demonstrated by the media are silence and inaction.
As Muslim activist Julie Pascoet stated, silence is not only a political statement but perpetuating white privilege and inequality. .
Source: Twitter (2018)
State-owned news outlets like Yle continue fueling the PS stranglehold on the country by stating that they will make significant gains in the municipal elections.
Opinion polls may indicate this to be the case, but where is the critical journalism?
It took a while, but, in the end, it came: MP Ano Turtiainen got sacked Friday from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party after being expelled in June from the PS parliamentary group. The interesting question that the PS board’s decision offers is what it means for the party and Turtiainen’spoliticalfuture.
An incident between PS Speaker of Parliament Juho Eerola and Turtiainen after a session was the stick that broke the camel’s back. Eerola had asked Turtiainen, who believes that Covid-19 is a conspiracy, to wear a mask while in a parliamentary session.
Ano Turtiainen. Source: Facebook
The comment by Eerola angered Turtiainen, and he started to insult the speaker of parliament in the hallway.
For the PS, the incident shows how little due diligence they do on their party members. If you hate migrants, gays, and feminists, that’s ok.
By kicking out a member, who is an MP, is already a serious matter. The PS board made its decision to save the party’s skin and dubious reputation. There are no ethical considerations except for the fear that Turtiainen can undermine the party’s popularity.
If there is one matter that will bring down the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, it is their racist and nationalistic ideology. We already saw this on 22/7 with Anders Breivik and now with political violence against Pekka Kataja of the same party.
On July 17, Kataja was paid a visit by three men who attacked him with a hammer and another weapon. After receiving twenty blows to the head, he was kicked on the floor by the suspects.
At first, two men were suspected but were released later from custody after offering credible alibis.
The police believe that the attempted murder case against Kataja is political. A 41-year-old person is now in police custody as one of the suspects, with two others still at large.
The prime suspect has published on far-right websites under his own name.
Since the crime against Kataja is somehow connected to anger against Kataja for not allowing Torssonen to run for parliament in 2019 because of his far-right ideology, it will be interesting to see who the perpetrators are and their connections to far-right ideology and the PS.
Is there greater complicity, and what about the PS? Even if Torsssonen was sacked from the PS, it does not rule out wider complicity. If there is a clear connection to the PS, it may impact the party’s success in the upcoming municipal elections.
Migrant Tales has referred to racism as a rabid dog shown off by Islamophobes. The dog, which attracts a lot of attention, is kept on a short leash. Even so, the rabid dog may bite its master, and hard.
The rise and fall of Timo Soini as PS chairman is a perfect example of the rabid dog. It also resembles the plot of the 1931 classic Frankenstein movie, where a monster is brought to life that later kills his creator.
Which Finnish politicians are the country’s biggest charlatans? We all know them by name. Finland’s media has learned to pushback more than before and not give a megaphone to political con artists. It is called media responsibility.
Who are these charlatans?
They are the ones who always pick on the disadvantaged threatening them with a life of social exclusion and rejection. You know, the ethnonationalists, the Finnish white supremacists, Finland’s biggest opposition party, are prime examples.
The Foreign Student was one of the first critical newsletters that spoke out against the discriminatory practices of the Aliens’ Office under Eila Kännö. Too many Finns see the ideal foreigner as a person who shuts up and smiles. This newsletter was published in April 1981.
I don’t know whom you think has spread the most racism in Finland. Is it Jussi Halla-aho? Riikka Purra? Laura Huhtasaari? Veikko Vallin? Ano Turtiainen? All the above? Or are these politicians only the opportunists emerging from deeply rooted and entrenched Finnish racism?
Apart from being political con artists, all of them lie outright because most of their campaign promises are unconstitutional.
Some of them are so racist that they don’t have a clue how racist they are.
If they have a tough time figuring out this fact, then we must help them to see the light and their shameful deception.
The greatest deterrent in foiling the attempts of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party’s political aims is our fervent opposition to such plans.
SOLUTIONS
What does the latter imply?
It means: voting, getting active in politics, writing, talking, debating, reciting poetry, demonstrating, going on hunger strike, getting constantly informed, busting fake news – living as if today were the last day before Finland is sucked in to bizarro’s spell.
HISTORY
The PS under Jussi Halla-aho has turned into a far-right party that spreads hatred of migrants and polarizes society. In many respects, it is not only a racist party but one fed by resentment.
Asseri Kinnunen is a shameless politician who destroyed the PS’ youth branch by giving too many ethnonationalists and fascists a political home.
PLAYING HARD BALL
In the message below, Kinnunen, who has been pictured in fascist attire from the 1930s, states: “HEY! Do you want to oust [Prime Minister Sanna] Marin’s government? Do you want @Halla_aho as prime minister? Join and help us. We need you! The video will tell you why you should become a candidate [for city council].”
These hopes by the PS as well as other campaign promises that will be broken after election day.
Finland will hold municipal elections on April 18, 2021.
Just like the PS has become bolder with its racism, it has simultaneously shown its true far-right and white supremacist colors.
Let’s give the PS and other likeminded parties hell!
MP Riikka Purra is an ethnonationalist with a strong white supremacist ideology of the Perussuoalaiset (PS) party. She is also first vice president of the PS.
One of Purra’s biggest message is how Finland is becoming culturally and ethnically diverse. According to her, this is a threat to the power and privileges that white Finns have.
Her latest tweet below is another shameful example of hers and her party’s far-right views.
Purra tweets: “When will be able to speak about social cohesion? That our values and institutions [lack social cohesion].”
Spreading white privilege and supremacy by politicians like Purra and her party’s radicalism and racism will end badly.
A question for Purra: You are way too late with your ethnonationalist goals and warnings. What are you going to do with us, so-called brown Finland, and people of color? Are you going to kick us out of Finland and send us off in boxcars?”
Since your racist and exclusive views of Finland won’t change anything, you say such foul things because you are a rude opportunist fishing for votes and questionable fame.
When I read the news story that Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen stated that she wants the country to accept zero asylum seekers, I sarcastically thought that one of the EU’s most Islamophobic countries had found a solution to end global inequality and strife.
The Perussuomalaiset (PS), Finland’s close ideological ally of the Danish People’s Party and admirer of Frederiksen’s anti-immigration policies, was overjoyed by the prime minister’s zero-asylum seeker goal.
The PS’ leader, Jussi Halla-aho, and his Islamophobic party has expressed the same plan: end asylum seekers from the Middle East and other developing nations from coming to Finland.
Considering that populists and parties lack imagination and prefer to copy-and-paste toxic ideologies, we only must look at former President Donald Trump’s cruel immigration policy of family separation and denying refugees access to the country. Such policy did not only fail but brought great suffering to its victims.
Fredriksen’s statement and that of other Islamophobic parties and politicians are only meant for populist public consumption. Thus, it is not the policy but a country that policy would turn it into. Sowing hatred, suspicion, and division never end well.
Ignoring the global suffering, we wrought in the first place would let in other toxic ideologies that give rise to countries that base their government’s popularity on hatred. Having our head in our rectum will not improve our eyesight.
The 2019 recipient of the Council Literature Prize, Jonas Eika of Denmark, gave the following speech (see video clip below) about state racism in Denmark and its then-new prime minister Fredriksen.
“I’m speaking to the Danish prime minister who’s also sitting somewhere in the audience, Mette Fredriksen, who’s at the head of the Social Democratic Party which has come to power by taking over the previous government’s racist language and politics,” said Eika. “Metter Fredriksen, who calls herself “the children’s PM,” but pursues an immigration policy that splits families apart, impoverishes them, and subjects a slow, destructive violence in the country’s so-called departure centers [immigration removal centers].”
OK, Eika is a poet and poets usually have noble ideals.
After the historic election of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party in 2011, when it won 39 seats in parliament from 5 previously, two international events have kept in check the PS’ rise: the bloody 22/7 events that left seventy-seven dead in Norway, and Wednesday’s storming of the Capitol building in Washington.
After the historical rise of Islamophobia and anti-EU populism in Finland in the 2011 election, the fanfare suffered a blow when a white Norwegian, who cited PS leader Jussi Halla-aho in his manifesto, committed the worst attack on Norway after World War 2.
Like what happened in Washington this week, the horrific events in Norway served as a wake-up call.
It is no secret that many PS politicians have shown their admiration for US President Donald Trump and worn MAGA, and given thumbs up pictures to their public.
Far-right groups with ties to the PS like the Soldiers of Odin are huge Trump fans.
What happened in Washington on January 6 will impact negatively European radical-right parties like the PS.
KEY ISSUES
Even if the PS has fared well in parliamentary elections during the last decade, it has not increased its lead from about 18% it has received in the 2011, 2015, and 2019 parliamentary elections.
University of Helsinki Professor of legal history Jukka Kekkonen gave his analysis in an interview on MTV.
“The [storming of the Capitol building] events in the United States should be a big warning to us all that we must take lightly what happened,” said Kekkonen. “A more serious attitude is needed by the media and lawmakers concerning right-wing populist hate speech, which is essential to embarking on a new good path.”
Despite the horrific events in Oslo nine years ago and in the US capital less than a week ago, the greatest threat to the PS will be its radical political views that are mostly based on lies and alternate reality.
PS aims to turn Finland into a Hungary or Trump-style banana republic will fail.
One of the big questions to arise from the Capitol storming on Wednesday by hordes of President Donald Trump followers is if the same could happen in Finland and other European capitals.
The dust from the Capitol building’s storming by Trump hordes is still settling on a political landscape that appears threatening.
Whatever your view of why and what happened on January 6 will be remembered as one of the worst days of US history. It also serves as a warning to us in Europe.
Four Trump thugs and terrorists died. One of these is a police officer, Brian Sicknick, 42, who was killed in the line of duty by the enraged crowd,
The hordes were encouraged to go to the Capitol to stop the electoral college’s voting, which confirmed Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States.
The storming of the Capitol building was planned for weeks on social media and different websites. Even so, law enforcement was caught with their pants down,
The action of the Capitol police raises a lot of questions. Why did some of them open the gates to the hordes, and why did some of them appear in selfies with these domestic terrorists?
Is there complicity on a higher level, and was the assault on US democracy a coup attempt?
THREAT TO DEMOCRACY IN FINLAND
In Finland, we have experienced the rise of a radical right populist party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*. The party under its leader Jussi Halla-aho has veered further to the right.
In one of many tweets showing support for Trump, Halla-aho, in a tweet below, claims that the outgoing US president is the best thing to happen to the United States and the Western world.
The love affair between the PS and autocratic rulers who shun democracy is nothing new. Even after the assault on the Capitol building on Wednesday, there is an eerie silence of complicity among the party.
Considering the Trump-fueled terrorism in Washington Wednesday, I ask once again the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party the following question: Do you still “love” President Donald Trump?
Source: Twitter
Are we headed in the same direction with the PS leading the charge? Disturbing scenes from Washington DC on Wednesday. The PS’ lobbying for “free speech” would lead to mob rule. Sources: MTV and YouTube, and Washington Post.
KEY BACKGROUND
With the Trump presidency making its rambunctious exit after four years of chaos and moral decay, our attention should shift to Finland. Do we want this type of government in Finland and, if so, which party would promote such a sad state of affairs?
If today’s the United States would be a reality in Finland, we would do away with the welfare state to excuse that it is every person for him or herself with mob rule and intimidation being the norm.
Under such a system like in Trump’s USAmerica, corruption would flourish and, at the cost of social equality, an important cornerstone of the Finnish Nordic welfare state.
Such a situation would flourish because the scapegoats would be the Muslims, people of color, and non-white migrants in general.
As the evil face of Trump’s administration stoops to new lows, we should ask which parties in Finland would like to install a Trumpist political and economic order?
One party that would gladly do this is the Perussuoalaiset (PS)* of Finland. They would not only make way for Trump-style conservatism and racist policies but add icing to it with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, Vladimir Putin, Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski, and other autocrats.
