Finance Minister Riikka Purra of the right-wing populist True Finns party’s announcement that she has not even considered distancing herself from past racist comments – which she allegedly published on a blog around 2008 – has caused an uproar in the opposition, which criticised the right-wing government for its silence.
Purra has come under fire after several details suggest that she may have been behind the pseudonym “riikka”, who expressed racist fantasies of violence on a blog fifteen years ago.
On Monday, Purra admitted to writing to several forums under pseudonyms before her active political career. However, she did not deny or confirm whether she, in fact was the person who had used the signature “riikka”.
Purra announced earlier this week she saw no point in distancing herself from old comments or apologising for them. She also indicated that she would not express herself in the same way today, but it is too late for the opposition who criticised the government for its silence over the issue.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo briefly commented on the riots in a message to the Finnish news agency STT on Monday evening, stressing the need for Purra to distance herself from violence and recalling the coalition parties’ commitment to an equal and safe society where no one has to live in fear.
But it was not enough for the opposition, who lashed out at the Finnish government and Purra herself.
Maria Ohisalo, former leader of the Greens, recalled that Orpo had said that the government had zero tolerance for ministers who flirted with extreme movements.
“What does zero tolerance mean?” asked Ohisalo in response to Purra’s refusal to distance herself from her earlier comments.
Center party’s Pekka Aittakumpu tweeted that there is a clear difference between the Center and the True Finns: their view of humanity.
“If the foundation crumbles, everything crumbles. We must hold on to humanity and human dignity,” he wrote.
Veronika Honkasalo from the Left Alliance wrote she is puzzled by the demands for the True Finns to distance themselves from their racist writings as they form, according to her, the basis of True Finns’ politics.
“Racism is the glue that holds True Finns’ politics together”, Honkasalo wrote on Twitter.
Several True Finns MPs defended their leader, Jani Mäkelä, who declared that the opposition favoured Putin.
“Our eastern neighbour benefits from discord in Finland. So is the tirade a conscious or unconscious way of promoting Putin’s cause? ” he said.
Later in the day, Purra seemed to admit she is behind the pseudonym “riikka” by apologising on Twitter for “stupid social media comments 15 years ago and for the harm and resentment that they understandably caused”.
“I’m not a perfect person, I’ve made mistakes,” she ended her tweet.
(Pekka Vänttinenm, Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
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