Parliamentary elections | Is Perussuomalaiset a racist party? This is how the researchers commented

BASIC FINNIANS is, based on the speeches of some of its MPs, an “openly racist party”, the prime minister Sanna Marin (sd) said on Friday in the exam for political journalists.

According to Marin, Perussuomalaiset has “clearly and genuinely been an openly racist party, even in its speeches – when you look at the speeches of the members of parliament”.

The difference between the basic Finns and the Social Democrats became clear already earlier this week. Marin said on Tuesday Ilta-Sanomi’s election examthat Sdp cannot fit into the same government with basic Finns.

Read more: Marin: Basic Finns is a racist party

Turku director of the university’s Center for Parliamentary Studies Markku Jokisipilä considers Marini’s claim about Basic Finns as a racist party as “hard political rhetoric”.

According to Jokisipilä, when evaluating the party’s ideology and political line, it is necessary to look at the party’s official programs.

“You won’t find any content in the Basic Finns program that would be against the Criminal Code or the Constitution.”

Jokisipilä has researched basic Finns and wrote a book about the party last year.

Read more: The new book treats Basic Finns as a “normal political party” – according to the researcher, even that is “too much for some people”

Marin justified his claim about the racism of basic Finns by, among other things, that Perussuomaiset wants to limit social security based on citizenship in its economic policy program.

However, according to Jokipilä, the distribution of social security and its foundations are relatively ordinary political issues.

“Different states have come to different solutions in social security and it is necessary to have a political discussion about them.”

River chives admits that some members of the Basic Finnish Party and MPs have made racist statements in public.

In 2020, the Attorney General asked for permission to appoint a member of parliament for basic Finns Juha Mäenpää prosecuted for incitement against a people’s group, but the parliament rejected the request. In his speech at the plenary session, Mäenpää equated asylum seekers and foreign species.

From the parliamentary group of Basic Finns Jussi Halla-aho and Sebastian Tynkkynen have gotten judgments for inciting against a national group.

“Judgments are objective facts. Whether that means the whole party can be called racist is a different matter. Almost all parties have MPs with convictions. If a member of parliament of the party has a conviction for, for example, drunk driving or peddling, I don’t think that makes the party a drunk driving party or a peddling party,” says Jokisipilä.

He points out that the party’s racism is against Finnish law.

“The idea that a Finnish party is racist is very strange and serious. The party law requires that you are committed to the constitution and the observance of democratic principles. If there was a racist party in Finland, it would mean that the Ministry of Justice would have failed in its task as the administrator of the party register.”

Read more: Writings about immigration, Islam and rape – such opinions have been published by Jussi Halla-aho, who caused the government crisis, over the years

Read more: Halla-aho denied that he mentioned Biaudet in his rape article, but the name is found in the old version – This is how Halla-aho explains

Helsinki the university’s university lecturer Emilia Palonen in my opinion, the discussion about the possible racism and governability of the basic Finnish party is appropriate.

“Basic Finns is no longer the same party as it was in 2015, when Timo Soini led the party,” Palonen says.

“During Halla-aho and Purra’s time, the party has clearly become more nationalistic than before. Nationalism and neoconservatism have replaced the previous general populist line. Immigration policy and questions related to citizenship are very important topics for basic Finns.”

According to Palonen, it is indisputable that individual MPs and members of the party have made racist comments, and thus “racism is intertwined with what the whole party represents more broadly”. However, according to him, it is difficult to summarize the political line of an entire party in one word, such as racism.

“I think it’s a good question whether a party can be very nationalistic and yet not at all racist at the same time. For example, the demarcation of social security based on citizenship proposed by basic Finns is exceptional in Finnish politics.”

River chives sees Marini’s statement as part of next spring’s election campaign. Parliamentary elections will be held at the beginning of April.

“The election campaign has started and with such exits we create spirit in our own troops. This is also a communication to the future form of the government, whoever it may be.”

Palonen also connects Marini’s statements to next spring’s election setup. According to him, Perussuomalaiset has tried to create itself a governable partner. That is why the attitude of other parties towards basic Finns is an essential issue in the spring elections.

“The policies of the opposition party are not that relevant, but now that Perusfuomalaiset will possibly be the ruling party in a few months, other parties have to bring the cat to the table and take a stand on the basic Finns. What kind of party is it and who is ready to govern with them?”

OPINION SURVEYS according to the coalition is currently the most popular party. According to a survey published by Yle at the beginning of January, Perussuomalaiset has overtaken the Sdp as the second most popular party.

The SDP, the Greens and the Left Alliance have said that they do not want to be in the same government as the basic Finns. The coalition, on the other hand, has taken an open approach to government cooperation with basic Finns.

“The allegation of racism can also be seen as a reply to Orpo and his line on cooperation with basic Finns. Now all three red-green parties have made the same declaration, which is certainly no coincidence,” says Jokisipilä.

According to Palonen, the parties try to deliberately draw lines during the elections and create differences between each other. According to him, it’s also about the party showing its supporters “whose side to stand with”.

Read more: Petteri Orpo now tells why he changed his mind about basic Finns

River chives equates the policies made during the elections regarding the future government base to the situation in Sweden.

“Finland’s party political situation resembles Sweden more and more. There, efforts have been made to actively isolate the Sweden Democrats from political decision-making and cooperation with others.”

According to Jokisipilä, the absolute boundaries of future government partners limit politicians’ movements in government negotiations.

“Such exits stiffen political culture and parliamentarism. It pushes the parties towards a bloc system, when there are fewer potential partners than before.”

According to Palonen, Finland’s party system is not yet blocked, although some parties have drawn a clear boundary for cooperation with basic Finns.

“It’s not about clear blocs yet, because, for example, the coalition is ready to work with all parliamentary parties.”

Read more: The researcher wonders about the rejection of basic Finns as a government partner, citing values

Read more: Purra responds to Marini’s criticism: “I am very proud of the basic Finnish understanding of people and values”