In Finland, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is an extremist far-right party that fear-mongers about Muslims and migrants. For many PS politicians, the Oulu sexual abuse cases came as an election lifesaver until Friday, when an Australian white supremacist murdered in cold blood 49 Muslims in Christchurch, New Zealand.
The future for the PS looks bleak. Different stories about the party speculate that some 200,000 voters are going to ditch the PS in the April 14 parliamentary elections.
From the reactions of some PS members to the atrocities in New Zealand, show a sense of dread.
What do extremists do when a murderous killing happens by people who are ideologically in the same ballpark? They find excuses to justify what happened, play it down or change the story completely.
Here is a PS Youth leader of Lapland who condones what happened.
What did Johannes Sipola say in the tweet?
“The New Zealand case show ever-convincingly that multicultural society does not work. When other people [of other backgrounds] rape and kill enough [people], it is only a question of time when there will be a reaction from the opposite side. First and foremost, everyone defends their own.”
And then there are those that change the story completely like former PS member Terhi Kiemunki, who was convicted for ethnic agitation.
What does she write?
“Contrary to what the Finnish media made us understand and pointed to, the New Zealand terrorist is an ECO-FASCIST, in other words an environmental activist. He also states that he was a former communist and anarchist. His values and ideology are only represented in Finland by green-left groups.”
The last one is Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the PS who in 2012 was convicted for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctify of religion. What did he tweet after the attacks in New Zealand?
“Noteworthy: according to the media, a terrorist attack has occurred that does not involve mental heal or [social] marginalization. Connections and links can be found across the globe.”
And yes, you guessed it right. His latest tweet takes us back – surprise, surprise – to the Oulu sexual assault cases.
I will not publish it because it is sickening.
* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way.
A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.