Think about a party that starts to get nervous about its poll standings and then its most popular anti-immigration politician, who has made his career on spreading suspicion and intolerance of certain migrants, states: We mustn’t forget that we are an anti-immigration party. In order to reverse our poor standings in the polls, let’s make our anti-immigration message louder and more visible.
That party’s name is none other than the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and the politician that wants anti-immigration to be the main campaign thrust of the party in the April parliamentary elections is MEP Jussi Halla-aho, who was sentenced for ethnic agitation.
Imagine the type of Finland migrants and minorities live in today. A populist party like the PS, the third-largest in parliament with 37 MPs, plans to target the migrant and minority community in order to improve its poll standings.
It’s difficult to figure out what is more outrageous: Halla-aho’s statement or the near-silence of the mainstream parties that see nothing wrong with his battle cry. They are probably silence because they have little idea how such statements by a party like the PS fuel suspicion and maintain a climate of intolerance towards migrants and minorities in this country.
* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The English names of the party 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.