“These two things are clearly behind the others” Riikka PurraThe chairman of the Basic Finns was quoted saying Helsingin Sanomat on Tuesday. “The problem has been that we haven’t been able to talk about these difficult issues, but we’ve been beating around the bush.”
Petteri OrpoThe chairman of the coalition confirmed that the four parties will focus on achieving a broad agreement on two issues, but estimates that the other working groups will continue their work on Friday at the latest.
“The other groups are far away, so they can take a breather now,” he said, denying that the twist was a sign of mistrust between the two sides. “There may be a little impatience here rather than differences of opinion. Be that as it may, these [issues] would be resolved this week. Basic Finns wanted to increase the pace even more in matters important to them.
The other two parties to the negotiations, the Christian Democrats and the Swedish People’s Party, took the news of the development by surprise.
Chairman Sari Essayah The representative of the Christian Democrats said that he did not hear about the decision until Iltalehti reported on it and complained that some of the parties had made an unnecessary trip to Säätytalo on Tuesday.
Purra said on Tuesday that the Basic Finns demand a fundamental change in immigration policy in the direction of Denmark and Sweden. The matter has caused friction especially between the Basic Finns and the RKP.
“It’s not about us ceasing to comply with international agreements or EU legislation, but about us tightening immigration policy across the board within this framework,” he said.
“The Swedish People’s Party is involved in coalition negotiations, and its terms are basically the opposite of ours. Everyone has to understand that if we don’t talk about these issues but talk about other issues, the situation will be unresolved for weeks.”
The Basic Finns also recognize that, according to Purra, compromises must be made.
Anna-Maja HenrikssonThe RKP chairman was asked yesterday if the change in focus means that this week could be decisive for the coalition negotiations.
“Could be, I don’t know. For the Swedish People’s Party, it is important that we reach an agreement that is good for Finland. I am sure that all the chairmen understand that they will not get everything they want”, he comments and estimates that the change will probably prolong the negotiations.
“We know that we have a lot of work ahead of us, especially in the social and health sector working group. This means that the process will take as far as the schedule goes. But we have no doubts about this approach.”
The change was widely interpreted as a demonstration of the strength of the Basic Finns.
The populist right-wing party is even more frustrated with the approach adopted by Orpo, who is leading the negotiations as the chairman of the largest party in the parliament. Orpo has apparently tried to postpone a serious discussion of challenging issues until the last stage of the negotiations, so that it would be more difficult for the Fundamental Finns and the RKP to back down.
“Purra got tired of Orpo’s attempts to celebrate [to the coalition] with attrition tactics” interpreted Jyrki HaraYLE’s political reporter.
“Purra showed that the Basic Finns refuse to be the junior partner of the Coalition”, wrote Teemu Muhonen Helsingin Sanomat.
Aleksi Teivainen – HT
Source: The Nordic Page
