“Jotain on pahasti vialla, kun kokoomusta ei enää erota perussuomalaisista eikä iltapäivälehtia MV:stä. Tärkeintä näyttää olevan saada aikaan nettimölinää.”
Lue alunperin sitaatti tästä.
Tag: Kokoomus
Finland’s pyramid of hate: Let’s do away with the Human Rights of asylum seekers
Even if opposition politicians from parties like the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), it’s sobering that the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin is holding the line against their onslaughts.
It is surprising that how naive the PS and Kokoomus are. No border, no law, will bring a sense of security unless you deal with the root of the problem. Walls do not keep a country safe and at the end of the day they come down like in Berlin 1989.
Walls do not keep people out. Ask the millions of Latin Americans who crossed the US border.
If we gave a free hand to these two parties, the inalienable rights of asylum seekers, like seeking asylum, would be shelved indefinitely. The hateful rhetoric that would emerge from such a move would make every non-white person a target. First asylum seekers, who’s the next group?
By dehumanizing people, we risk going up the pyramid of hate. We saw this in Nazi Germany as well as in many other countries.
Let’s hold the line against the irresponsible onslaught that undermines our Nordic welfare state values enshrined in Human Rights and social justice.
Why do some politicians, who know better, spread and feed us racism?
There is an old saying that goes something like this: I was a liberal in youth so I would not be a fascist in old age.
What motivates a politician to twist and exaggerate facts to stigmatize migrants? National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Heikki Vestman’s speech in parliament Wednesday is a prime example of how some politicians spread Islamophobia to attract attention and gain power.
His unsubstantiated talking points motivated me to write an email to him, which he has not yet responded to.
Moreover, the MP uses code to tell us what groups he is targetting. The term “asylum seeker” usually means Muslim.
“When I heard your speech and rationale Wednesday (20 October), I wondered how a young, apparently intelligent person could house such opinionated and unsubstantiated claims about migrants. If you are honest, would you want to [live and] grow up in a country where this type of discourse is ongoing by politicians seeking power and attention?
Read some history and check out how the Finns were labeled in Sweden during the 1960s and 1970s.Does the phrase “en finne igen” ring a bell?
After North America, the greatest number of Finnish immigrants, or about half a million people, moved to Sweden. In the 1960s and 1970s, Finns had a terrible reputation in the neighboring country. Whenever a crime occurred, Swedes usually responded, “it must be a Finn,” en finne igen.
Here is a question to Vestman: Why are you picking and bullying vulnerable groups of people who cannot defend themselves from your attacks?
Below are some unsubstantiated claims (that I translated and paraphrased) from Vestman’s speech. He was against loosening family reunification guidelines because the minors, whom he sadly referred to as “anchor babies,” could become a national security threat.
Vestman should know that having a family is a human right.
Continue reading “Why do some politicians, who know better, spread and feed us racism?”Tanskasta löytyy vastaus miksi Perussuomalaiset vastustavat Kokoomuksen ehdotus
Haluatko tietää miksi Perussuomalaiset vastustavat Kokoomuksen ehdotus tiukentaa maahanmuuttolinjansa? Tanskasta löytyy vastaus.
Kirjoittaa Yle 2019 vaaleista: “Tanskan poliittista keskustelua pitkään hallinnut ja muutkin suuret puolueet maahanmuuttopolitiikan rajuihin kiristyksiin yllyttänyt kansanpuolue koki vaaleissa rökäletappion. Kun vielä vuoden 2015 vaaleissa oikeistopopulistista kansanpuoluetta äänesti 21,1 prosenttia tanskalaisista, oli äänisaalis nyt vain 8,7 prosenttia.”
Perussuomalaiset pelkäävät sama kohtalo kun Tanskan kansanpuolue.
Let’s take our identity back from the likes of Kauma, Kokoomus and the Perussuomalaiset*
It isn’t surprising that the National Coalition Party’s (Kokoomus) proposal to tighten social security guidelines between migrants and “white Finns” (kantasuomalaiset) has caused confusion. The answer is simple and hinges on the fact that ethnicity and race are social constructs.
The mix-up over the use of the term kantasuomalainen has not only caught Kokoomus by surprise, but it also reveals their ignorance and simplistic view on integration.
MP Pia Kauma, who made a questionable name for herself in 2014, when she wrongfully accused Somali mothers of getting social welfare to buy new baby carriages due to cultural reasons (sic!), is at it again. Before, it was baby carriages, now it’s taking away constitutional rights.
But let’s cut to the chase: Why are people like Kauma and Kokoomus defining who we are? We have a right to call ourselves whatever we wish and, to use one of the Perussuomalaiset catchphrases, we have the right “to take back” our identity from people who don’t mean well. We decide who and what we are.
Kokoomus gives nod to Perussuomalaiset’s plan to tighten immigration policy
The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) MP Pia Kauma wants to tighten immigration law. It is strange that when most Finns are on holiday in the middle of the summer, Kauma intends to propose such changes.
Her party’s proposal should be seen as a green light to the Perussuomalaiset’s plan to tighten immigration policy if they win the next parliamentary elections in 2023.
While there is still a lot of work to make Finland a more inclusive country and tackle discrimination and racism, there is one problem with Kokoomus’ proposal: credibility.
For one, MP Kauma has little credibility to speak in earnest about immigration policy and integration, especially of people of color and visible migrants.
In 2014, Kauma started to attack Somali mothers. She pointed the accusing finger without any proof that at migrant mothers claiming that they bought with social aid new baby carriages while Finnish mothers bought used ones.
Kauma never backed her statements but at the end her claims were proven false and based on hearsay. She apologized later for her racist statements.
A satirical view below of how Kauma sees a migrant mother’s pram.
But what could be behind this stunt by Kauma and Kokoomus to tighten immigration policy? Is the party giving the nod to the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* that they too would be ready to tighten immigration policy if in government?
The heir-apparent of the PS, Riikka Purra, said earlier this month that it would never form part of a government that won’t significantly tighten Finnish immigration policy.
Continue reading “Kokoomus gives nod to Perussuomalaiset’s plan to tighten immigration policy”Populism and lack of leadership under Petteri Orpo fuel Kokoomus’ tailspin
The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) received a political bomb that exposed the party’s internal strife between its liberal and populist-conservative wing.
Kokoomus’ candidate for Helsinki mayor, Kirsi Piha, and Helsinki city councilor Hanna Gullichsen, both party’s liberal wing, announced they would step aside.
Piha stated in a blog posting her decision to pull out from the mayorship race of Helsinki exposed the deep ideological fight between the liberal and populist-conservative factions.
Just like Piha, who said she would not stand for Helsinki city council, so did Gullichsen announced not to seek reelection.
Both Piha and Gullichsen were clear about their decision.
Piha said that her values conflict with the leadership of Kokoomus under its leader, Petter Orpo.
“Kokoomus’ base value is to create wellbeing and active society where everyone has opportunities, work and to live a good life,” she wrote. “Everyone. It is not based on stereotypes and by the thought that marginalizes [other groups]. Human dignity must not be politicized.”
Kokoomus’ and Finland’s downward spiral
The last opinion poll published by Helsingin Sanomat doesn’t show us any big surprises. A few percentage-point fractions up or down and, end of story. If, however, we take a longer view, the situation of the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) raises some questions.
Just like Jutta Urpilainen and the Social Democrats learned before the 2011 parliamentary elections, which revealed the ugly face of racism and our toothless reaction to it, copying the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a bad idea.
Apart from the Social Democrats, Blue Reform, which splintered from the PS in June 2017, tried and utterly failed at becoming a “light” version of the PS.
With the municipal elections scheduled for this spring, Kokoomus is feeling the heat. Instead of lowering the heat of racism and bad taste, they are just raising throwing more petrol on the fire.
The best example of this strategy’s failure under the leadership of Petteri Orpo is the latest opinion poll.
Orpo and his party are trying to be a light version of the PS’ racism and populism but are failing. The failure of such a political strategy would be costly.
One of these campaign messages by Kokoomus is by Atte Kaleva, who states in the tweet below that “I have a dream: Helsinki without communists. Let’s work together to turn this into a reality.”
How many Finns vote for the Communist party anyway? Does 0.1% sound right for the whole country?
One wonders about Kaleva’s desperation and how he is sucking up to populist buffoonery, and how Kokoomus, like the Republican Party of the US, have veered to the radical right.
If you think of it, the same is happening in Finland right under our noses: Kokoomus is becoming more populist and abandoning its liberal ideology to cozy up to the PS, which terrorizes – just like Trump’s voters – all those that disagree with it.
Wake up Kokoomus, wake up Finland, before it is too late.
Kokoomus’ perilous path, caving into far-right populism and xenophobia
Conservative parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) are on a dangerous path putting in peril human rights and the rule of law. The latest suggestion by Kokoomus parliamentary group leader, Kai Mykkänen, to pass legislation so Finland could suspend asylum applications like Greece is worrying.
The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party clutched political power in the last decade with the help of anti-Muslim racism. Only white EU citizens were spared from their hateful rhetoric as long as they kept quiet.
Anyone from outside the EU with different skin color or religion was targetted and victimized by their hateful rhetoric.
Since the historic victory of the PS in the 2011 parliamentary election, when they won 39 seats from 5 seats previously, the party’s message has steered further to the far right.
Even if it was only a time when the PS would show it real far-right colors, it is disappointing to watch how Kokoomus has climbed into bed with the PS.
Kokoomus parliamentary group leader Kai Mykkänen stated after Greece decided to suspend asylum applications for a month that Finland should pass legislation to do the same.
“Finland must be prepared, if necessary if we were exposed to pressure from a large number of [asylum] applications coming towards Finland,” he was quoted as saying in Yle and added that the country should be able to do what Greece did under exceptional circumstances.
Somebody should tell Mykkänen and his party that it is a human right, specifically Article 14, guarantees the right to seek asylum. It does not read that such a human right can be suspended under any circumstances.
With such arguments, we could put on hold our democratic system whenever a political party in power deems.
Kokoomus, never mind the PS, are placing Finland on a dangerous path.
Huhtasaari, Sarvamaa ja Virkkunen: Saavatko ihmiset hukkua Välimerellä?
TÄMÄ KIRJOITUS ON PÄIVITETTY
Kolme suomalaista MEPejä, perussuomalainen Laura Huhtasaari, kokoomuslais Petri Sarvamaa ja Henna Virkkunen äänestivät 24.10. vastaan EU:n pelastus operaation puolesta Välimerelle. Europarlamentin äänestyksessä ehdotus hävisi niukasti, 290 vastaan 288 puolesta.
Huhtasaaren, Sarvamaan ja Virkkusen kanta on valitettava ja on osoitus kuinka EU on valinut kuoleman elämän puolesta. Missä on näiden poliiikkojen ihmisyys?
Kiitos Sirpla Pietikäinen, Eero Heinaluoma ja Mauri Pekkarinen kun äänestitte pelastus operataation puolesta. Seuraavat MEPit eivät äännestäneet: Ville Niinisto, Heidi Hautala, Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, Silvia Modig, Elsi Katainen, Nils Tovalds ja Teuvo Hakkarainen .
Vain 3 ääntä olisi tarvittu lisää.
Keskustelin lyhesti MEP Virkkusen kanssa toukokussa miksi hän oli “erimieltä” Alma Median vaalikonen seuraavan väitteen kanssa: “EU:n velvollisuus on pelastaa kaikki hukkumisriskillä Välimeren ylittävät Eurooppaan pyrkivät siirtolaiset.”
Hän ei vastanut seuraavan kysymksen:
Virkkunen on näyttää oleva sitä mieltä, että ihmiset on aina autettava mutta pitää rangaistaa salakuljettajat, eli ihmisiä saa kuollaa prosessissa.
Kuinka monta ihmiset pitää kuola Välimerellä ennen kun EU pystyy tekemään salakuljetus kannatamaton? Kuukausia? Vuosia? Tai ei koskaan?
Tänä vuonna on hukkunut yli 1000 ihmistä Välimerellä. United for Intercultural Action on vuodesta 1993 dokumentoinu “yli 36 570” kuolematapauksia kun ihmiset ovat pyrkineet Eurooppaan.