The first part of the two-day summer meeting of the coalition will be held in Pori and the second in Rauma.
The coalition chairman, prime minister Petteri Orpo defended himself on Thursday against accusations that his party had sacrificed its values ”on the altar of the economy”.
“We haven’t done that,” he said.
“A sustainable economy is not a value for the association, but a tool. A tool for us to make a policy in accordance with our values. Build a Finland with freedom, opportunities, civilization and well-being. Where the weakest are taken care of,” he said in his speech to the summer meeting of the coalition’s ministerial group.
The meeting started in Pori on Thursday. It continues until Friday.
In his speech Orpo also assured that the government “does everything to eradicate racism and discrimination”.
“We are doing more than any government before.”
In the government, the relationship between Rkp and basic Finns in particular has tightened, when racist writings and private messages from the past of ministers from basic Finns have become public.
The government is currently preparing a communication on equality, which is to be given to the parliament at the beginning of September.
According to Orpo, the discussion about racism is a good thing. He said society changes when racism and discrimination are brought to light and debate leads to political action.
Orpo also said that the government intends to take care of the resources for anti-discrimination measures. There has been a disagreement between Rkp and basic Finns about whether new funding will be channeled into activities.
However, Orpo emphasized that immigration and related problems can also be talked about critically.
“Criticism, questioning and challenging are the essence of democracy. We must use this freedom and right responsibly: respecting everyone’s human dignity,” he said.
According to Orpo, economic policy is the force that holds the government together.
Riikka Purra, the chairman of Basic Finns, also spoke extensively about economic policy in her speech to the party meeting at the weekend.
According to Orpo, the coalition wants “Nordic employment, Nordic labor markets and Nordic social security”.
“We want to reduce indebtedness to the level where it is in other Nordic countries.”
In his speech, Orpo mentioned the brakes on indexes that automatically increase public spending, the abolition of adult education subsidies and savings from development cooperation.
Orpo described the government program as Finland’s “most ambitious reform program in recent history”. According to him, no other form of government would be able to implement such a change.
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