Tag: Finns Party
Finns Party’s media strategy a cause for concern for experts
“Bad, racist, fascist, a Nazi,” she stated according to YLE, cataloguing words that have been used to label the Finns Party. Purra was elected for her second term at the helm of the party following an uncontested leadership election on Saturday. Members of the party have long criticised the media for coverage that they consider…
HS: Social Democrats overtakes National Coalition by slimmest of margins
The Social Democratic Party is virtually the only party to have increased its popularity in the past month, accounting for 2.1 points of the 2.2 points worth of gains recorded in the poll. The party is receiving support from a number of quarters, revealed Sakari Nurmela, the managing director of Kantar Public. “The party is…
Purra: Finns Party ministers have no need to actively repent for past writings
“We handle our responsibilities in the manner required of ministers as the second major party in the government and comply with the government programme.” Minister of Education Anna-Maja Henriksson (SFP) on Wednesday stated on YLE A-studio that she expects Purra and Rydman to demonstrate a willingness to change, take concrete action and show genuine remorse…
Finns Party officially endorses Jussi Halla-aho for president
Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) took a strong stance against the media and left-wing parties in his endorsement speech.
Purra criticises media at party meeting
The Finns Party also reelected Riikka Purra as party chair for the next two years.
Henriksson: SPP "didn’t know" about Finns Party racist writings
Swedish People’s Party leader Anna-Maja Henriksson says her party would probably not have entered government formation talks had it known about the Finns Party’s racist writings.
Henriksson wants to see genuine action and remorse from Finns Party
“We want to see genuine actions against racism and remorse from them so that they can win back our trust,” she stated in an interview with the public broadcasting company, estimating that the ruling coalition is in the most difficult situation she has seen during her 16 years in politics. Henriksson declined to comment on…
Finnish government’s anti-racism task force holds first meeting
The four ruling parties are represented in the task force by the state secretaries of their chairpersons. Seats on the task force are also held by the permanent state secretaries of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Education, and Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The objective yesterday was…
Greens’ Virta accuses Finns Party of distorting in racism discussion
Vigelius argued on the current affairs show that the concept of racism has undergone inflation. “We’re talking about how different ice cream bars and board games can be racist, with even institutions joining the talk. We’re talking about [the game] Afrikan tähti, we’re talking about [the ice cream bar] Eskimo,” he said. He added that…
Mannerheim, energy market and Biden's cold reception: Finland in the world press
Henrik Meinander’s biography, “Mannerheim: Marshal of Finland,” translated fluently by Richard Robinson, looks into the history intertwined with Mannerheim’s career. While Mannerheim had some flaws, like his initial reluctance towards representative democracy, he remains significant in Finland’s history. After Finland’s short civil war following the Bolshevik revolution, Mannerheim led conservative forces to victory. While Meinander…
Ex-speaker Vanhanen criticises Halla-aho’s decision not to reconvene Parliament
In July, Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) rejected opposition demands to reconvene Parliament to discuss the viability of the government after revelations of racist comments made by Finns Party leader Riikka Purra on Halla-aho’s blog.
YLE: As Social Democrats surges, National Coalition loses top spot
Jussi Westinen, the research director at Taloustutkimus, stated to the public broadcasting company yesterday that the timing of the poll likely contributed to the downward trend of the two ruling parties. “July had quite a lot of political turbulence as the government found itself constantly in controversy trying to clear up the racism cases,” he…
HS: Finns Party enjoys most support in localities with least immigrants
The calculations revealed a sizeable negative correlation (-0.43) between support for the populist right-wing party and share of residents of immigrant backgrounds. A negative correlation between two variables indicates that as one of the variables increases the other tends to decrease, and vice versa. The Finns Party has spoken extensively about the negative effects of…
Yle poll: NCP support drifts away
The Social Democratic Party took top spot in the latest monthly poll for Yle. Both the Finns Party and the National Coalition look to have suffered a drop in support after racism scandals.
HS investigation: Finns Party support more popular in municipalities with fewer immigrants
The newspaper made its calculation based on data from Statistics Finland.
Study: Many Greens, Left Alliance supporters voted for Social Democrats in 2023
“If the National Coalition or Finns Party wins, we’ll have a right-wing, blue-black government that’ll pursue harsh austerity policies,” she warned during an election debate hosted by MTV in March. It appears that the framing had an effect on voters, reveals a study published in June by Åbo Akademi University. The study found that nearly…
Henriksson: Rydman should’ve apologised for racist private messages
“Even though we’ve talking about private messages, they do also bring forth his own thoughts which, in my view, were very inappropriate. It was racist language.” Rydman has declined to apologise for using racist language in messages he sent to his then-girlfriend in 2016, instead affirming his commitment to the provisions on equality and non-discrimination…
Finnish government to make first social security cuts in autumn, says Grahn-Laasonen
The government programme outlines that spending on social security should be reduced by 1.5 billion euros, including by slashing the housing allowance by 360 million euros or about 16 per cent from 2022. Grahn-Laasonen stated to the Finnish public broadcasting company that the cuts will align Finland with the rest of the Nordics. “For example,…
HS: Rydman has used racist language in private messages
The messages were sent in 2016. Rydman was at the time a 30-year-old member of the parliament with a seat at both the Administration Committee and Constitutional Law Committee. He resigned from the National Coalition and joined the Finns Party in January 2023. Rydman replaced Vilhelm Junnila (PS) as the minister of economic affairs earlier…
Finns Party isn’t racist, states Purra
It is absolutely clear to all members of the party, she stressed, that the government has committed to democracy, equality, human rights and non-discrimination. Purra also lashed out at the media for its coverage of her past comments on Scripta, the blog of current Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (PS). The comments, she suggested, have…
YLE: Finns Party supporters feel differently about racism than others
The views varied according to factors such as age, gender, place of residence and political affiliation. Residents of Tampere are especially of the view that the country should ramp up its effort to weed out racism, with only a quarter of them estimating that racism is treated seriously enough and 64 per cent estimating that…
Heads of OP, Nokia voice concern about effects of racism discussion
“We have to make sure that the children of families moving from abroad are able to attend school and that spouses can find work easily.” Increasing work-based immigration, he stressed, is very important for the future of Finland. “Many industrial sectors need more labour, which is why work-based immigration must be increased broadly. We’ll also…
Purra regrets previous comments, Orpo assures that the government will not fall
“Taken out of context and viewed through a modern lens, some of the writings look even worse than before. I do not accept any kind of violence, racism or discrimination. People who know my values and the way I work know that.” prime minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) thanked Purra for the apology and said he…
Immigration still divides the Basic Finns and the Coalition
Orpo pointed out that the next government must strive for sustainable growth, secure welfare services, maintain national security and take care of education and the climate. He reiterated that the coalition is not ready to compromise on its goal of adjusting the public finances by six billion euros over the next four years, even if…
YLE: The concentration of political power in Finland continues
Only 20 MPs are therefore only involved in national decision-making in the election period that is just starting. Anni JänttiA university lecturer at the University of Tampere stated to the public broadcasting company that the increase in the number of legislators with threefold duties was to some extent expected, considering the visibility of the election…
Finland’s election: what happened to Sanna Marin and what awaits next
The result of the Finnish parliamentary election signals a tumultuous period ahead. This was anticipated to a certain extent by surveys before the election, which showed that the Prime Minister True Marines The Social Democratic Party (SDP) was about to lose to the conservative opposition party Coalition Party (Kok), led by Petteri Orpo. The final…
Friday’s papers: Turkey’s approval, Finns Party’s u-turn and a windy weekend
Turkey’s approval of Finland’s NATO bid has ended months of delays and negotiations.
Survey of MPs on Twitter 2022: Basic Finns rule – Marin carries SDP alone
Like MPs, there are big differences between parties in the activity and effectiveness of Twitter use. Of all the parties, the Finns party was far ahead of the others on Twitter. MPs are fairly active Twitter users, and 188 out of 200 MPs have a Twitter account. But there are big differences in the ability…
Month-by-Month: Finland's year in news
If 2020 was the year of the pandemic, 2021 was meant to be the year we bounced back. The year kicked off on a wave of optimism, as effective vaccines were rolled out and the economy showed its first signs of revving back to life, leading many commentators to predict a new "roaring twenties'' was…
Coronavirus updates 25.10-8.12
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has proposed implementing a Covid-19 vaccine mandate for employees in the social and healthcare sector. The mandate would only apply to those who work closely with patients in high-risk groups. As per the proposal, employees can refuse to take the vaccine if there are valid medical reasons. In…
Former Finns Party MP begins process of creating new party
Member of Parliament Ano Turtiainen, who was ejected from the Finns Party earlier this year, has started the process of collecting the signatures needed to launch a new political party, which he intends to call Valta Kuuluu Kansalle (VKK), roughly translated as "Power Belongs to the People." Turtiainen was expelled after posting racist tweets in…
Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson will survive the motion of censure
Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson (SPP) survived the vote of confidence in Parliament by 103 votes to 66. The Finnish party had filed a motion of censure against Minister of Justice Anna-Maja Henriksson, claiming that she had misled citizens and called on municipalities to break the law due to the postponement of this spring’s municipal…
