Radical right 101 (lesson 1): Is the Perussuomalaiset a radical right party?

by , under Enrique Tessieri

Migrant Tales will start publishing news about how the far-right, specifically the radical right, is dupping half a million Finns. I consider the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* as the biggest menace to Finland’s democracy, our Nordic way of life, and vibrant cultural diversity.

Former PS party secretary and MP, Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo, disagrees. She said on A-studio (31.8) that the PS is “middle of the road” and would not define her party neither as far-right nor radical right.

History researcher Oula Silvennoinen, who was also a guest on the program, stated that there are two types of far-right parties: radical right (see below for definition) like the PS, and extremist groups like the neo-Nazi PVL.

Slunga-Poutsalo was, however, adamant: “We are a conservative party but not far-right.”

Even if the PS likes to play own its ties to far-right extremist groups like Kansallismilisten Liittouma, the neo-Nazi PVL, and other likeminded groups like the Soldiers of Odin and Suomen Sisu, these relationships always pop up in the strangest of places.

At a summer camp in mid-July arranged by Kansallismielisten Liittouma, participants took potshots with bow and arrows and air-rifles at ministers like Prime Minister Antti Rinne, Minister of Education Li Anderson, and Minister of Employment Timo Harakka, all left-wing politicians.

One prominent PS official at the summer camp was Hannele Al-Hamzawi, a member of the far-right association, a Holocaust denier, and, surprise, surprise, chairperson of the Southwest Finland region PS women’s chapter.

Some hardcore member of this association are members or have close ties with the neo-Nazi PVL, Suomen Sisu and the PS. Hannele Al-Hamzawi is next to last person standing on the right.
In this tweet, Al-Hamzawi, who used to be married to an Iraqi man, questions and isn’t sure whether the Holocaust took place. Dmitry Gurbanov states that Al-Hamzawi is a member of the far-right Kansallismielisten Liittouman and chairperson of the PS’ Southwest Finland women’s chapter.

If you Google the association’s chairperson, Tero Ala-Tuuhonen, you will find a picture of him wearing a uniform with a rank patch of an SS stumhauptführer. White terrorist Anders Breivik emailed Terhi Kiemunki, a former PS member and vice-chairperson of the association before he went on a rampage and killed 77 people in Norway on 22/7.

Just like the members of the Kansallismielisten Liitouma board, which have ties to or are members of neo-Nazi, Nazi-spirited groups like the Soldiers of Odin and Suomen Sisu.

Al-Hamzawi views on immigration were so radical that she was removed as a municipal candidate for the Christian Democratic party in 2017.

Radical Right 101

Thanks to the vital work of researcher Silvennoinen and others, Finns have learned more about the far-right and radical right and what are their political goals.

What are some of the political aims of a radical right party like the PS? How would they rule Finland if they got power?

  • Radical right parties are anti-establishment, anti-EU, anti-elitist, anti-globalization, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam;
  • They lobby for stiffer immigration and naturalization laws;
  • Favor authoritarian and hierarchical leadership like Jussi Halla-aho of the PS, whom his followers call “the meister;”
  • Have close relations and cooperate with far-right extremist groups;
  • Overdosed on xenophobia and Islamophobia, ethnic replacement conspiracy theories abound and are a common theme of radical right parties like the PS;
  • They favor a two-tier society where only citizens enjoy access to social welfare, unemployment benefits, and civil rights in general;
  • The radical right wants to establish an ethnocracy instead of a democracy;
  • They believe in the romantic myth of the homogeneous nation;
  • In the face of their ethnic replacement conspiracy theories and romanticism for a white ethnocracy, are they planning to deport on a mass scale those they consider undesirable or send them to concentration camps?
  • Sexual identity is as strict as ethnic background.: man, woman, and heterosexuality;
  • It aims to gain power through the democratic system it wants to destroy Finland’s liberal democracy and copy what Hungarian strongman Viktor Orbán has done in Hungary.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

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