Comment: Here is a pretty incredible video with English subtitles of newly elected PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who appears to have never seen or met a foreigner in his life. He is one face of the Perussuomalaiset and it’s a pretty crude one at that.
Check out how MP Hakkarainen insults at the end of the video below immigrants and Muslims.
His comments have already angered Perparim Hetemaj, the brother of Fatbardhe, who ran unsuccessfully for MP for Kokoomus. You can read the story on Ilta-Sanomat.
As I mentioned earlier, these are only the first acts of a four-year tragic-comic play.
____________
“Tuo maahanmuuttohomma pitää saada kuriin”, Hakkarainen sanoo.
To see video (in Finnish) click here.
That is a spectacularly embarrassing video. 🙂
For those who thought the Blackadder III episode with Baldrick in Parliament was comedy fiction.
How long before Soini warns his team not to go anywhere near a microphone?
You know, I have been feeling quite sad about the sudden turn of events occuring in Finland…but now there is an added feeling of pathos for these people, the PS. So puffed up in their small town views…It really is, Enrique, a tragic comedy.
I think, in the end, one needs to have compassion and understanding for people with uninformed views that stem from fear and past scars that have not healed.
Hi Jenkki, welcome to Migrant Tales. You represent the majority of Finns so don’t feel like a minority. We must now work on keeping our society a wonderful place for ALL. No group can hijack it for themselves and force us, for example, to scorn post-modern art. I personally trust the Finns’ good judgement. It is as you said: many wounds of the past have not healed. One of these is Russia. We have to learn how to forgive and move forward. Some of us are, unfortunately, still stuck in a 1939-40 time warp.
Sympathy?
Well, yes in the sense that one can sympathise with the wolf that gets itself shot by the sheep farmer.
This poor sod has to make a maiden speech at some point. He’s supposed to read hundreds, if not thousands of pages of legal text and form an opinion based on slightly more than hearsay about niggers at the border. His only qualification for this is that he won a popularity contest.
–Well, yes in the sense that one can sympathise with the wolf that gets itself shot by the sheep farmer.
This PS MP is one of many that form part of the tragic-comic play. Think of it, we still don’t have a government and look at the “acting.” I am still in the dark who is the PS ice cream vendor who got elected.
Wait till you hear James Hirvisaari hurling adjectives left and right and Kike Elomaa. Will she do bench presses while giving a speech in parliament? Maybe? Oy vey!
Apart from the populist campaign promises, the biggest shortfall of the PS will be its MPs. Many are unqualified. Their only merit is, as JusticeDemon pointed out, winning a popularity contest.
I believe that diversity is strength. This person will definitely bring a different viewpoint to Parliament. Just couple of months ago some diversity expert gave us a lecture at work about how creativity is fostered by bringing people from other cultures even if they don’t have any relevant technical skills – merely coming from the outside apperantly increases the probability of new ideas.
StiflersDad
Either you didn’t understand your diversity expert or this was no expert. There is no benefit in bringing in people who lack the relevant technical skills for a specialised occupation. Mr Bean aside, what matters is that you don’t exclude anyone who has these skills for extraneous cultural reasons.
Anyway, the media have obviously now got their teeth into this clown.
The original video already has English subtitles now, but they really don’t do full justice to the soundtrack.
Thank you JusticeDemon!
All I can say is given a choice of Teuvo Hakkarainen in parliament, or no go cultural enclaves (ghettos) at any urban area that other politicians are advocating, I know which one I would choose.
Klay, maybe you could move to Viitasaari and ask Hakkarainen for a job at the sawmill. I’m certain the both of you have a lot in common.
Klay
Given the choice between Klay_Immigrant coming to Finland and the thermonuclear annihilation of all life on the planet that other politicians are advocating, I know which one I would choose…
OK – I made up the bit about those other politicians advocating the thermonuclear annihilation of all life on the planet.
Now either admit likewise or name one of those other politicians that you mentioned.
One of the biggest criticisms of the British parliament and particulary the Oxbridge dominated cabinet government is that it does represent society as a whole on any measure whether it’s gender, race, education, socioeconomic background, or previous occupation. People like Teuvo Hakkarainen may not be as articulate, eloquent, or sophisticated minded as a career politician but they can bring concerns and understand issues that affect people similar to themselves that other more well heeled politicans would not have thought of or comprehended. That’s the reason they were elected in the first place.
Klay
I didn’t think you would be able to identify a politician advocating the creation of underprivileged urban areas, so let’s put it down to hyperbole.
We are here discussing the skills that are reasonable to expect of a Member of Parliament. These obviously do not include matters of gender, race, education, socioeconomic background, or previous occupation, nor [arguably] even the qualities of being articulate, eloquent, or sophisticated of mind (whatever that means).
Most of the work of an MP consists of reading legal papers and policy reports, formulating and expressing views on a wide range of issues in writing and in meetings, interpreting the views of the electorate in a form that makes sense within the current and ongoing legislative and policymaking process, and representing Parliament as an institution. For all of their faults, people like Jussi Halla-aho, Sulo Aittoniemi and even Veltto Virtanen and Kike Elomaa evidently possess at least some of the skills that this work requires. The contrast with Teuvo Hakkarainen is quite stark. The guy is spectacularly unqualified for his new job. I cannot think of any other MP in the history of independent Finland who comes close (that’s a challenge to our more rabid contributors). Whether and how far he can be trained up to the required standard remains to be seen, but my bet is that he will remain an unfunny circus clown and an embarrassment to his party and Parliament for as long as he can stand it, and then we will see an alternate stepping in.
Adopting immigration politices of various MPs from parties such as the Green party or SFP would inevitably lead to ‘the creation of underprivileged urban areas’ even if the aim is not explicitly that. Open your eyes and look at other countries in Western Europe and to not acknowledge this shows you really are in denial.
It’s funny that barely after his first day in Parliament you have already written off his chances of being a decent MP even though he has not been given an opportunity to learn and train but yet when it comes to asylum seekers or refugees you are willing to give years of adaption and integration into Finnish society and even when the results are not good you still make excuses for them. It’s sad but consistency just like with Enrique is completely lacking when dealing with Finns and immigrants. So much for equality.
Was the labour party’s and Britain’s reputation sconed by having John Prescott as the deputy prime minister to Tony Blair even though he punched a man in a crowd on camera while in office and wasn’t the most well spoken or politically correct? Well 3 straight outright majority election victories with John Prescott in that position says no.
Forgot to add John Prescott was also caught having an extra marital affair while in office too.
Klay
You are being silly. By that reasoning all unintended consequences are advocated. Look at what you specifically said.
There is an obvious difference between the likely adaptation period of a person displaced by force of circumstances and given humanitarian refuge and that of a person deliberately selected for a particular job. Teuvo Hakkarainen resembles Klay_Immigrant selected to compose and present advertising slogans for an agricultural equipment dealer in Poland. The blame for such an inappropriate appointment rests mainly with whoever recommended it.
BSc and trade union training aside, Prescott is hardly the sharpest knife in the drawer, but are you suggesting that was unable to perform the basic duties of an MP? With Teuvo Hakkarainen we are really approaching the level of Blackadder comedy.
I agree with your viewpoint, but apperantly that is not politically correct. I brought this up because we are having some big issues with our South African recruitment due to not being able to find suitable affirmative action canditates. We are being forced to take on “non-white South Africans” ahead of “settlers”, even though their academic background and work experience is weak by first world standards. I should have taped our sessions with the so called diversity expert…15 Oxbridge educated white males arguing that there is no such thing as positive discrimination (its either discrimination or its not) against the diversity expert and government representatives who claim that taking sub-standard applicants will lead to a better outcome for all.
I’m glad to see that you don’t stand for diversity just for diversity’s sake.
Also, I had to laugh at your comment about “specialised occupation”. I think that being a politician is one of those roles where there is little specialisation – more of master of all trades. It is a job where common sense trumps specialised knowledge by a mile.
Justice Demon – since 1907 theres been numerous MPs with meagre backgrounds and little formal education. I dont know if any of the celebrities be it a tv host or an athlete is any more or less ” qualified” thats what the bureaucrats are there for.
StiflersDad
Various types of “culturally neutral” blind (or even double-blind) skills test should answer the question of whether a candidate is able to perform the duties of the position, and you should be free to exclude anyone who demonstrably lacks the required skills. It is in the choices that follow such basic shortlisting that diversity becomes a relevant factor and positive discrimination makes sense.
One way to understand this is by analogy with environmental constraints. It may be good for the short-term balance sheet to run a dirty operation, but in the end it’s bad for the broader community and for long-term business health. In much the same way it may be good for the short-term balance sheet to hire high flyers only, but the long-term social consequences of doing so may be very bad for business indeed. The social environment can be poisoned in much the same way as the biosphere.
Identifying individuals who can voice the concerns of the labour movement (and keeping them on board) has been a perennial problem. This is the underlying rationale for trade union training and the workers’ educational movement in general. Three characters come to mind immediately when I think of this in the contemporary Finnish context: Lauri Ihalainen, Matti Puhakka and Jouko Ahonen.
PS evidently has the same problem, but it lacks the corresponding experience and administrative machinery of the traditional labour movement. When Matti Puhakka was Minister of Labour, for example, he had Johannes Koskinen constantly at his right hand as a personal political adviser. Puhakka had the labour movement credibility, but it was Koskinen who had the smarts for the sheer technicalities of the job. I am fully anticipating that Ihalainen will enjoy the same support service. Ahonen is an interesting case, because he has obviously fallen foul of that old music hall favourite:
PS should have learned with Toni Halme that you can’t take some poor sod straight off the street and drop him into the machinery of state administration. In Hakkarainen’s case there isn’t even a history of years spent in acrimonious all-night meetings held in smoke-filled rooms. That’s the one strength that you can normally bank on in labour movement heroes.
Allan
Name and shame. I can’t think of anyone who comes close to Hakkarainen in respect of lacking qualifications for the daily work of an MP.
Celebrities are normally at least able to read a script and present a public face. They also don’t generally approach the job on the understanding that they have been elected on the strength of a policy programme. The athletes who go into politics broadly belong to what might be called the STTK/Akava sector. Lasse Viren was a police officer, for example.
Celebrities might be suave, but the PS got Tony Halme straightened so one Hakkarainen should be easy. And I think as a sawmill owner he has had enough of smoke filled backrooms business negotiations, international ones too from what I understand.
Allan
Are we talking about the same Toni Halme? The wrestler who went into meltdown almost immediately after his election on the PS ticket in 2003, was sectioned in 2006 and finally killed himself in 2009? Precisely what, in all of that, leads you to say PS got Tony Halme straightened. Perhaps you meant straitjacketed.
Yes, the show wrestler. Personal life aside. The coaching and aides he had made an immense effort, compared to his public performances what he was giving out a year before.
Well in the first contribution below the line I asked:
The answer is “at least not immediately”.
Yesterday’s Helsingin Sanomat reported that Soini has now had words with Hakkarainen over the latter’s colourful use of language in the interview concerned, telling him that in future he should watch his tongue (“pitää kieli kurissa“).
Hakkarainen has now been told to say “black” instead of “nigger”. His excuse that “I didn’t know it was a term of abuse. It came naturally to me.” (“En tiennyt, että se oli haukkumanimi. Se oli minulle luonnollista.“) can presumably only be used once.
Earlier in the day Hakkarainen had asked why he could not speak plainly in Parliament – or maybe that should be why he could not “call a spade a spade” (“Miksi täällä ei voi sanoa kuten asiat ovat?“).
It occurs to me that as a scruffy and uneducated country bumpkin, Hakkarinen would be the biggest loser in any move to abandon political correctness.
The plot thickens.
According to today’s Helsingin Sanomat, the Ombudsman for Minorities is to ask the Prosecutor General to investigate whether Hakkarainen’s remarks constituted incitement against a population group or met the statutory definition of some other criminal offence.
The grounds for this request are set out in a communiqué published yesterday on the Ombudsman’s website.
This is probably not the kind of distraction that Timo Soini welcomes as negotiations continue with a view to forming a new government.
JusticeDemon, I personally hope they throw the book at him. No matter how “ignorant” you claim to be, his racist outbursts are unacceptable. How many Hakkarainens do we have in the PS?
I like this version. 🙂
And this one. 🙂
And this one. 🙂
JusticeDemon, these are “masterpieces” if you know what I mean. Thank you!
Hakkarainen has exposed the Halla-ahos of the PS to the bone. I hope those that voted for the PS see the outright ignorance and stupidity behind Islamophobia. A colleague abroad, who saw Hakkarainen in action, said that that “The PS are morons.” A party that bases its policy on racism is doomed.
It looks like Hakkarainen is starting to get a bit of a cult following similar to Boris Johnson the current mayor of London and former Conservative MP who is gaffe prone too. The media did their homework and deliberately filmed his first day in Parliament knowing a controversial remark from him is more than likely otherwise this all seems too coincidental.
Didn’t he say ‘negro’ not ‘nigger’? The term just like ‘coloured’ may be frowned upon but in itself it’s not racist.
Also he cannot be that clueless if he knew that Muslims have to wake up early to pray and his reenactment of prayer call was quite accurate as I had to hear it 5 times a day everyday when I lived in Saudi when I was younger so would know. As a consequence still to this day I can recite the full first verse of prayer.
Klay, give it up. When you place your foot in your mouth it is actually quite visible. Hakkarainen is an example of what Islamophobia really is. You probably don’t know that Hakkarainen doesn’t read papers or watch TV but but tells us that we are under threat from refugees. If you go to his web page he states: “Together we wil build a better Finland.” There are a lot of red faced in Finland and in Viitasaari.
Klay
When your Finnish improves, you’ll be embarrassed at what you just wrote. There is no comparison at all between Boris Johnson and Teuvo Hakkarainen.
You must remember our discussion of this incident back in January. How would you translate Saatanen neekeri, pysähdy tai käy huonosti!?
The offence is exacerbated to the extent that Hakkarainen was not clueless about what he said.
I think the only red faces are in the parties who lost the elections. SFP is frantically trying to get leverage to secure “their” cabinet seat.
Funny that a total political nobody like Hakkarainen is able to create such a fuzz in the media. Regardless of his perceived lack of whatever, he will probably vote for stricter asylum policies, cuts in the social benefits of the asylum seekers, limitations in the right to appeal against asylum decisions, swifter deportation procedures, tighter family reunification policies and cuts in foreign aid. He will probably vote against gay marriage (he seems to have a background in a religious sect) and the eurozone financial aid packages. If his constituents consider that these decisions are in their best interest, which obviously is the case, there is a fair chance that he will get reelected in 2015. They care very little or not at all what “etelän media” think of him.
Enrique: – Hakkarainen is an example of what Islamophobia really is.
That is hardly the case. If I have to guess, I would say that Hakkarainen has never heard the word “Eurabia” in his life or read a single word written by Robert Spencer. It seems that he just genuinely dislikes islam for what ever (religious?) reason and does not want any further islamic influences in Finland.
gloaming
Before you can vote on anything, it has to be on the agenda. A private member’s bill on most of those issues would not advance beyond the committee stage. Even Sulo Aittoniemi eventually had to accept this.
You should be more concerned that Hakkarainen doesn’t go the way of Toni Halme.
JusticeDemon, here is some more stuff on Hakkarainen: http://lehtilehti.fi/2011/04/sketsihahmo-hakkarainen-vetaa-kovempaa-keikkaliksaa-kuin-munamies/.
Thank you @SirkkuAsheesh
JusticeDemon: – Before you can vote on anything, it has to be on the agenda.
Ofc. If Ps is in the next government (which seems quite likely), we will see a selection of these issues in the form of bills or in some other form in the next four years. At least tightening of the family reunification policies concerning the beneficiaries of secondary protection will almost certainly continue to be on the agenda.
I’m not aware that Hakkarainen would be into substance abuse. And even if he was, I see little reason why I should be worried.
gloaming
Bills on some of those issues (e.g. discriminatory social welfare [ss. 6 and 19], the right to appeal in administrative matters[s. 21]) would have to pass through the parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Law, where they would be amended to conform to the requirements of constitutional and binding international law (i.e. squashed). Are PS really foolish enough to support a governing coalition based on the promise that such proposals will be submitted? That’s like agreeing to pay for my house in return for my support in getting China expelled from the United Nations.
Family reunification is mainly about the rights of children. The most that can be done in this area is to impose new administrative obstacles that will further increase processing times. This will also affect the situation of Finnish families with foreign children, because of that pesky constitutional commitment that prohibits discrimination.
Anyway, didn’t Soini say that PS supports the immigration policy of the last government? Or was that also country bumpkin talk based on ignorance?
You don’t see why you should be worried about the mental health of an MP who you said would be re-elected in 2015? Could I recommend that you experiment with a bit of joined-up thinking? It’s a bit difficult to stand for election when you’ve been sectioned.
Ricky
There’s another one here.