No matter how much Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party member Matti Purkonen, MP Sampo Terho or Timo Soini assure us that they are against racism and fascism,[1] the more they incriminate their party. Renouncing racism and far right ideology would be tantamount to committing political hara-kiri for the PS.
Should we be surprised on Friday by PS party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo’s claim that four out of five refugees coming to Europe are only economic migrants? Should we be surprised by PS MP Olli Immonen’s declaration of war against “the nightmare of multiculturalism” and his ties with neo-Nazi groups?
Not at all. What you see is what it is.
There are two matters that the Finnish media doesn’t get with the PS and hasn’t connected the dots:
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The PS grew from obscurity thanks to the fact that society saw Somalis as a negative factor and that they would get rid of this “problem;” [2]
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Soini is seen for some odd reason as the “good cop” of the PS who is trying to bring in line racists, xenophobes and fascists to whom he gave a political voice in Finland. The media should stop giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Everyone knows that the PS will fail in ridding Finland of what it thinks is the Somali “problem,” which now includes as well Muslims and Middle Easterners.
Those who believe that the PS can mend its ways and become a “normal” party should ask if you can convert a communist party into a capitalist one. It just won’t happen.
This story in tabloid Iltalehti is one of many examples when the PS tries to appear like a “normal” party.
No matter how much the PS kicks and bitches about the problem Finland is becoming an ever-culturally diverse society.
The only way that the PS will lose in its grand lie and deceit about migrants and cultural diversity is when voters give them the thumbs down and don’t for for them anymore.
Soini and the party leadership understand this. That is why they vacillate from trying to appear as a “normal” party from being one based on racism and xenophobia.
* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English-language names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.
[1] The media in Finland doesn’t use the term far right to describe the PS even though this term is used to describe the party in the European media. See link.
[2] For more information read: At Home in Europe – the Somalis of Helsinki. See pages 116-124.