Halla-aho: President Niinistö commented on government’s racism crisis without familiarising himself with it

By admin On Jan 25, 2024

Presidential candidates Olli Rehn (Centre), Pekka Haavisto (Greens) and Jussi Halla-aho (PS) attended an election debate hosted by MTV in Helsinki on Wednesday, 24 January 2024. Halla-aho stood out from the other candidates with his assessment about President Sauli Niinistö’s decision to publicly comment on the racism-related coalition crisis witnessed last summer. (Markku Ulander – Lehtikuva)

PRESIDENT Sauli Niinistö had not thoroughly familiarised himself with the issue before commenting on the coalition crisis that erupted last summer, Jussi Halla-aho, the presidential candidate of the Finns Party, stated during an election debate hosted by MTV on Wednesday.

“He hadn’t exactly familiarised himself thoroughly with the issues he commented on,” said Halla-aho. “What the ministers had allegedly said and done was not reflective of reality as I know it.”

Niinistö commented twice on the public debate and coalition crisis sparked last summer by revelations about racist statements made by two members of the Finns Party, Minister of Finance Riikka Purra and Minister of Employment Vilhelm Junnila. The latter ultimately stepped down as cabinet member due to his repeated nods to far-right themes at, for example, campaign events.

The president encouraged the government to adopt an unequivocal zero tolerance to racism, citing, for example, possible damage to the global image of Finland. The government overcame the crisis by drafting a statement on measures to combat racism and discrimination.

MTV on Wednesday asked all presidential candidates whether the president made the right choice to comment on the issue.

Halla-aho stated that he would have rather called for a zero tolerance to “real problems” such as gang violence, robberies and “drug trafficking, which his in the hands of immigrants”.

“These are the kind of real problems that have an impact on Finns’ well-being that the president should bring up in public discussion and seek to accelerate the necessary legislative work,” he estimated.

The other candidates viewed that the president was justified in commenting on the issue, with many reminding that racism is not only a problem for the country image of Finland but also for people of immigrant backgrounds living in Finland. Both Olli Rehn (Centre) and Alexander Stubb (NCP) reminded that people of immigrant backgrounds make up a constantly growing share of the Finnish population.

“I agree with Halla-aho in that we have to intervene in gang violence, but I wouldn’t rule out intervening in racist language,” said Pekka Haavisto (Greens).

“Halla-aho is incapable of saying out loud that racism is a real problem in Finland,” said Li Andersson (LA).

Aleksi Teivainen – HT

Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi