Tag: Perussuomalaiset

Perussuomalaiset candidate: Kill the prime minister, finance minister and boil Muslims alive

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What is more serious: encouraging people to kill the prime minister and finance minister of your country or suggesting that Muslims should be boiled alive? The police are presently investigating whether to launch an inquiry against Perussuomalaiset (PS) Kotka municipal election candidate Amon Rautiainen, reports YLE in English. 

Rautiainen has publicly apologized for what he wrote on Facebook.

”I wrote the posts with humor and in the heat of the moment,” he said.

Is “humor”encouraging readers to kill Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen as well as suggest that Muslims should be boiled alive?

Like many racists and social media bullies, you will find cowardice and low self-esteem behind their ignorance and bravado.

What would happen if an immigrant, visible minority, never mind a Muslim, would have suggested the same fate for the PS and its leadership as Rautiainen did for members of the government and Muslims?

There would be a public outcry.

The fact that these types of characters appear almost constantly from the PS suggests the extent of the social illness that has inflicted Finland.

Their racist and ultra-nationalist ideology grow in PS greenhouses of hatred.

Sad but true.

But there is something positive to mention: Finland’s reaction to racism is an ever-growing a reaction.

PS of Pori: Nazi motto to kick off the municipal elections of October

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party of the western Finnish city of Pori have come up with a catch phrase to launch their municipal election campaign: “One city – one leader,” reports Uusi Pori. The motto of the Nazis regime (1933-35) was chillingly similar to what the PS in Pori are using: Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer (One People, One Nation, One Leader). 

Janne Salonen, the head of the PS of Pori, doesn’t see anything wrong using catch phrases that are poor copies from Nazi Germany.

“Hitler used catch phrases when he spoke as a leader,” he said, “we’re speaking of the city of Pori. Every inhabitant of Pori knows the difference.”

Do they?

Does Salonen?

I doubt it.

Another example of how some members of the PS flirt with Nazism and fascism.

Meanwhile, the police are investigating whether or not to launch an inquiry into the Facebook posts of PS Kotka municipal election candidate Amon Rautiainen. The candidate wrote that it would be “patriotic” to kill Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen and Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen.

Rautiainen wrote as well that Muslims should be boiled alive.

Read whole story (in English) here.

 

An interesting discussion with some PS members about Finnish identity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I had an interesting discussion on Saturday with a Perussuomalaiset (PS) candidate for Mikkeli city council. The woman, who claimed that her mother is Russian, stressed that the PS strives to look after everyone’s interests in Finland, including that of immigrants. 

Good news.

Even if such views are hard to find in the PS, they do exist. Migrant Tales wrote in November about Jukka Kotimäki, a PS secretary of Siilimäki near Kuopio, who said that he doesn’t want racists in the party.

Others that have voiced objections to the PS’ hardline racists is MP Pirkko Mattila.

These faint voices within the PS are a positive sign and should be applauded. Even so, they are steamrolled by the party’s inflexible Counterjihadists, populist radical right members and shameless racists.

The discussion I had with another member of the local PS party on Saturday revealed the central issue concerning the problematic view the party has of immigrants and visible minorities.

”You speak Finnish well,” the PS member said.

“But I am Finnish.”

After telling him my family history in two seconds, he stated that I’m ”half” Finnish.

”I’m not half of anything,” I responded. ”I’m Finnish.”

I continued: “There are many types of Finns these days:  Muslims, blacks, browns, Catholics.”

The discussion came to an abrupt halt.

Why do some Finns still believe that one has to be white to be Finnish? It’s incredible that a country that saw 1.2 million people emigrate between 1860 and 1999 and whose population is becoming more culturally diverse still claims that one must be white and speak the langauge perfectly to be accepted as a “full” Finn.

Is this what is taught at our schools? Is it what a model Nordic welfare society teaches and reinforces: You don’t fit the ethnic bill if you aren’t white enough?

The good news is that our view of ourselves as a group will change radically during this century.

 

 

YLE poll: PS seen as big winner of the Finnish municipal elections

Posted on by Migrant Tales

YLE’s latest poll published Thursday shows the Perussuomalaiset  (PS) Party will be the biggest winner of the October 29 municipal elections. The poll sees the PS getting 17.2% of the votes versus 5.4% in 2008.

The poll predicts the Center Party as the biggest loser of the election with 15.9% versus 20.1%.

The National Coalition Party and Social Democrats are both vying for top spot with 21.5% (23.5%) and 19.9% (21.2%),  respectively.

How should we interpret this latest poll? Does it mean that the PS’ anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam message has got a strong foothold in mainstream Finnish politics? Is it a death knell to the Center Party?

All of these are good questions but one matter is for certain: Finland is becoming a more polarizied society as the euro crisis rages on.

Racism, Counterjihadism and neo-Nazism sit well with the PS

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I thought I had heard some lame excuses from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, but I was wrong. Risto Helin, a PS city council candidate for Vaasa, beat all those before him hands down. On his Facebook page, Helin is wearing a blood-and-honor t-shirt. He claims that it was purchased about ten years ago but didn’t know it had anything to do with Nazism or Skinheads.  

Risto Helin of the PS is running for city council in Vaasa. Would you ever vote for a person who  can’t read?..

Certainly this is a publicity stunt to get media attention. What is worse, but not surprising, is that the PS does not have a problem with a candidate that openly supports Nazis and Skinheads.

The candidate states as well on his Facebook page that he is a member of the Bandidos Motorbike Club, which is an organized crime syndicate with membership worldwide.

If you want to put Helin’s profile picture on Facebook into context, in the United States he’d be a candidate wearing an American Nazi Party or Ku Klux Klan t-shirt. In Spain or Norway, Helin would be wearing a t-shirt with a rude quote by dictator Francisco Franco or Vidkun Quisling, respectively.

…what a coincidence with Helin’s t-shirt! Check out the anti-Semitic website where this ghastly picture was posted.

Does the PS openly support racism, Counterjihadism, neo-Nazism and far-right mumbo jumbo as part of their political message?

PS campaign manager for Vaasa, Harri Leppälä, gives us an answer to that question. He does not see any problems with Helin’s t-shirt, whom he described as an honest entrepreneur who opposes multiculturalism.

“There’s no reason to prevent him from running [on the PS ticket],” Leppälä was quoted as saying on Turun Sanomat. “Somebody is trying to make a storm in a teacup and blackwash the Perussuomalaiset.”

 

 

An interesting blog that follows far-right candidates in Finland’s municipal elections

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I bumped into a blog called Kunnollisvaalit 2012 (in Finnish), which aims to expose far-right candidates running for office in the Finnish municipal elections of October 28.  The blog cites 11 Perussuomalaiset, 2 Center Party and one Muutos 2011 candidates as “far right.”

The blog aims to expose what these candidates are posting on the Internet.

Kunnollisvaalit 2012 considers far right the following groups: Suomen Sisu (Nazi-spirited association), Nuiva Manifesto (PS’ anti-immigration manifesto), Finnish Defense League (Counterjihadist), Suomen Kansalinen Vastarinata (neo-Nazi).

Remember Ulla Pyysalo, PS MP’s Juho Eerola’s aide, who was planning to join the neo-Nazi Suomen Kansalinen Vastarina? Well, she’s running for city council in Taipalsaari.

On a thread on Facebook with TU tennis, Ulla Pyysalo compared immigrants to animals and plants. ”Yes, transplanting animals or plants in a new environment has always ended in failure.”

Risto Helin is a “white power blood & honor” candidate for the PS  in Vaasa. 

Pyysalo continues, now comparing immigrants to racoon dogs.  ”I heard just recently that hunters are encouraged to kill these raccoon dogs,” she writes. ”God dang it how racist and terrible. Eeek help! :DDDDD,”

The Kunnollisvaalit 2012 list below of fascists, Nazis and racists isn’t complete. PS candidates such as James Hirvisaari, Olli Immonen, Freddy Van Wonterghem are missing.

The 11 PS candidates that Kunnollisvaalit 2012 cites are:

Muutos 2011 and Center Party:

 

Anti-racism web sites in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales was named as one of seven anti-racist web site in Finland, according to a thread by “Tutkija” on Vaasa Forum. While Counterjihadist and anti-immigration websites have sprung up like mushrooms in Finland, anti-racist forums are one answer to the message of hate of these latter sites. 

The Perussuomalaiset party openly and indirectly supports  a number of Countejihadist and anti-immigration web sites in Finland like Hommaforum and Scripta.

“Tutkija” describes Migrant Tales as ”a quality [anti-racism] online publication in Finland written in English.”

Other anti-racist sites cited by Vaasa Forum include:

What kind of a threat do Finland’s Counterjihadists pose?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It’s pretty clear that what goes up politically must eventually come down. Some groups, which have recently surged in popularity like the Perussuomalaiset (PS), could see their bubble burst quickly. While I wouldn’t count on anything like that happening anytime soon, it could be a totally different story for the hardline Counterjihadists of the party.  

The question that should concern us all is what will these radical members of the PS do if they see their popularity wean.

Do they have  a plan B? Will they take to the streets and incite more people to parrot their message of hate?

One of the most naive ideas that Counterjihadists hold is that they can keep their hate rhetoric on a short leash. Anders Breivik’s murderous rampage in Norway proved once again that racism and Islamophobia can bite back at its ideological master.

While we are already seeing greater violence to visible minorities and immigrants after last year’s PS election victory, the question is how do we challenge such a threat effectively?

Everyone knows that the hardcore Counterjihadist MPs of the PS are Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and Olli Immonen.

If PS chairman Timo Soini wished, he could land a fatal political blow to the Counterjihadists by banishing them from the party. As a so-called taxi party (all of its members could fit in a taxi), they would no longer be a political force like they are today in the PS.

In many respects, Soini’s relationship with these extremists could be described as that of a junkie hooked on heroin. One hates being a junkie but it sure feels good to inject oneself with such a drug.

If Soini ever kicked out the Counterjihadists from the party, would these politicians go down without a fight?

It would be naive to think so.

Their message of hate would certainly get louder and their rhetoric more violent.

PS Counterjihadists: Live and die politically by the sword

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is at a crucial juncture concerning its strange-bedfellow relationship with Counterjihadist and populist radical right members. What kind of links do some members of the PS have with far-right groups like the Finnish Defense League (FDL)?

The FDL is nothing more than a mouthpiece of the English Defense League, a violent street protest movement that opposes the spread of Islam in Europe.

What would happen if a whistle-blower in a group like the FDL  revealed the strong links between the far-right group and certain prominent members of the PS?

Certainly all hell would break loose.

Politicians like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho and especially James Hirvisaari have a lot to worry about these days since they are the Counterjihadists and populist radical right members of the PS.

You get a lot of interesting mail in Mikkeli like a recent copy of the Perussuomalainen. Note the highlighed words in yellow asking  “immigrants” and “everyone” to become PS candidates in the October municipal elections. The PS would be the last party I’d join for obvious reasons.

Things have changed a lot since the April 2011 elections, which gave the PS its historic victory. Since then, different ideological power struggles have become more pronounced within the party. The rude appearance of Norwegian Counterjihadist mass killer Anders Breivik in July 2011 has divided the PS ideologically.

This week we saw PS MP Juha Väätänen being ousted as chairman of the party’s Helsinki branch. This is expected to turn into a messy power battle as the municipal elections near in October.

In Mikkeli, we saw the PS implode when two of its four city councillors ditched the party to join the Christian Democrats and Center Party.

Figuring out what kinds of undercurrents are threatening the PS’ unity is not easy because the party is a tinderbox with the following warning: Do not move – highly explosive.  Approach at your own risk.

In the meantime, take a seat and fasten your seat belts in a new act unfolding of the tragic-comic political play called the PS.

YLE poll: The PS is expected to make the biggest gains in the October municipal elections

Posted on by Migrant Tales

A poll commissioned and published by YLE on Sunday reveals that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party will make the biggest gains in the October 28 municipal elections. If the PS gets 15.8% of the votes as the poll suggests, it will be a big leap from 5.4% that the party got in the 2008 municipal elections. 

The poll sees that the National Coalition Party getting in October 22.7% compared with 23.5% in 2008. That would be followed by the Social Democrats with 18.7% (21.2%), and the Center Party with 16.6% (20.1%).

Even if the PS are seen making significant gains in the municipal elections, it is a sharp fall from what polls showed the PS getting in summer 2011. Back then, the PS was the biggest party in Finland with 23%, followed by the National Coalition Party (21.6%), Social Democrats (18.1%) and Center Party (13.8%).

If the PS do well in the municipal elections of October, it reveals that some Finnish voters’ confidence in traditional parties has recovered somewhat but not enough to relegate Timo Soini’s party to the minor political leagues.

Some analysts believe the euro crisis and the government’s mixed messages concerning the latter have helped the PS.