What does the True Finns’ sensational triumph in April’s elections mean for immigrants living here? SixDegrees tried to find out.

THE TRUE FINNS may not have secured a place in Finland’s new government, but by receiving 19 per cent of the vote in April’s election they have caused an absolutely huge stir. This self-professedly populistic, eurosceptic party is additionally accused of such things as racism, xenophobia, religious intolerance and homophobia.

The party argues in its election manifesto that it values (nation-based) diversity but that to preserve such diversity at the global level requires more homogeneity within states. Genuine heartfelt sentiment, or simply a convenient way to justify the promotion of narrow-mindedness and the impoverishment of minority rights? Either way, immigrants in Finland have good reason to be concerned about the popularity of the party.

What’s wrong with the True Finns?

“If racism, xenophobia and exclusion of immigrants and minorities were seen as minor problems in the past, the election victory of Perussuomalaiset (the Finnish-language name for the party) put those three social ills in a different ball league,” argues Enrique Tessieri, a Finland-based journalist and anthropologist who has written extensively on the subject of Finnish immigration to Argentina and blogs frequently about issues of cultural diversity on his site Migrant Tales.

“Perussuomalaiset (PS)”, the name Tessieri chooses to use when discussing the party rather than the controversial translation ‘True Finns’, “are a right-wing populist party. The matter that makes it different from the rest of the parties in Finland is that none of the others have so many anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam members,” he continues. “The most objectionable policies of PS are its xenophobia and populism.”

Husein Muhammed, the well-known ethnic Iraqi Kurdish lawyer and human rights activist who stood for the Green League in the recent elections, also thinks the True Finns’ electoral success will carry with it negative effects, but, at the same time, doesn’t see the situation as bleakly as Tessieri.

“In theory, the ‘Fundamental Finns’ are a party of the disadvantaged and marginalised part of the population and I'm happy those people seem to have now found a way to express their opinion via a political party,” he states.

Nonetheless, Muhammed insists, echoing the views of Finland’s top political commentators, that the True Finns never had a realistic programme with which to deliver on their election promises. Moreover, he insightfully points out that the True Finns simply want to turn these disadvantaged Finns against another disadvantaged group: the country’s immigrant population.

While seeing the True Finns’ electoral breakthrough as having little effect on his own life, due to Muhammed being a well-established, highly educated Finnish citizen, he sees problems ahead for others here.

“The rise of the ‘Fundamental Finns’ will probably make life quite hard for newcomers as well as for Finns and foreigners whose family wants to join them here. Increased racism might also make it harder for Finland to attract skilled workers, as well as tourism,” Muhammed predicts.

Post-election reactions

Søren Berg Rasmussen, a Danish student at the University of Helsinki who has sat on the Council of Representatives of the university’s student union almost continuously since 2005 after becoming its first ever international student member, wasn’t particularly surprised by the election result, although he wasn’t quite prepared for the extent of the True Finns’ victory.

“It seems to be a trend across Europe, so why would Finland go free,” he argues. Asked what he thinks of the general reaction of Finns to the True Finns’ success, Berg Rasmussen sees reason to be somewhat optimistic.

“I think that many Finns only see the anti-immigration stand of the party and rightly react strongly against that...It has been nice to see that the Finns actually can have strong reactions when something like this happens.”

Tessieri and Muhammed are less impressed by the reaction of Finns to the election result.

“I felt surprised and disappointed with Finland and that so many voters could be lured by the xenophobic and populist message of the PS,” admits Tessieri, while Muhammed focuses more attention on the behaviour of other political parties:

“Of course a small amount of people have almost panicked, but the majority of the population has taken the news calmly. Virtually all other political parties, except for the Greens, showed their willingness to be in the same government as the ‘Fundamental Finns’ before the latter pulled out of coalition talks on 12 May,” he notes. Moreover, Muhammed suggests that this willingness speaks volumes about Finland’s political parties’ relationship to the True Finns.

“The differences [between the parties] are more visible in rhetoric rather than in policymaking: politicians from the ‘Fundamental Finns’ might, for instance, speak less ‘politically correctly’ about foreigners, but this doesn’t mean that other parties – especially the National Coalition, the Social Democrats and the Centre – don’t have anything against foreigners,” he comments.

What will 2011’s legacy be?

Whether Finland has, either in political or economic terms, entered a new era as a result of the recent election provokes significantly different responses from our interviewees.

For instance, Muhammed places most emphasis on the fact that party politics and parliamentary coalition building have been seriously affected and suggests that government formation involving the now emasculated three traditionally big parties plus the True Finns throws up a whole set of problems, since they hold widely varying opinions on crucial issues such as the EU, taxation, the age of retirement and energy policy.

Tessieri identifies wider ramifications of the election result. “The age of consensus politics and innocence went out of the window on 17 April,” he forcefully asserts before adding that, “For many Europeans who are concerned about the rise of right-wing populist parties in Europe, Finland is now on their radar screen.”

Yet, Tessieri notes the volatility of protest voting, a factor that undeniably played a big role in the huge share of parliamentary seats won by the True Finns, as well as the backlash the party’s success could engender in the next few years.

“The rise of the PS and their negative view of immigrants and refugees could embolden Finns against them [at the next parliamentary elections] in 2015. It could bring out the best in Finns and be a wake up call for people to defend values like tolerance and social equality for all,” he contends. “I believe we have entered a new era, but we don’t know where it is heading.”

Berg Rasmussen also questions the longevity of a protest party. “The complete lack of experience of most of the basic Finns in the parliament will create enough scandals and mess to make sure most of the protest voters think twice next time before giving the party their support,” he ponders.

Conversely, though, the Danish student is less taken with any grandiose claims about Finland having been fundamentally transformed. “I don’t think this has been a momentous change; but if we keep on labelling it as such in the media then it might become one,” he states.

We’ll just have to wait to see whose vision of the post-2011 parliamentary election world proves to be closest to the mark. What’s certain is that the next four years will undoubtedly make for interesting, and at times worrying, viewing.

ILLUSTRATION: Hans Eiskonen
Allan Bain