Denials all around – It is all denied…. or so they say! Last week FinnishNews wrote that it was obvious that the two young lions, Mr. Häkänen and Ms. Lepomäki, were plainly considering to try to grab the leadership position of the Finnish Conservative Party from its current holder, Mr. Orpo.
These two were appearing on the front pages and on TV like soap opera stars selling small government, reduced taxes, austerity and anything else that could get them elected. Both young lions had a strong performance in the last elections because they have good spin doctors and looked right.
But “Politics is Politics” and both ended the week with synchronised strong denials that they would NOT be challenging Mr. Orpo. It is most probable that they were told to follow the party line, and had to swear their allegiance like the Brits who use the following that could also be applied to Finns with some small alterations:
“I, [name], swear by Almighty God that, on becoming a British citizen, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors according to law.”
The Finnish version for the Conservatives looks like this:
“I, [name], swear by Almighty God that, as a Member of the Conservative Party, I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to the Majestic EK, short for the Confederation of Finnish Industry, Its Heirs and Successors according to law.”
It is EK, really the old men in dark suits and dark silk ties, that controls most of the election financing for right-wing candidates, just like the little lady who sits in her many palaces, whose family and hangers-on depend on her handouts too…
The Greens go on the offensive – The Finnish Greens, who are in the present coalition government, have been a little frustrated that they are not as effective as their partners the Center Party. This farmer’s club gets to keep meat production for carnivores, to keep burning peat for heating, (that is the worst possible fossil fuel with lots of greenhouse gases) and to keep cutting down too many trees to keep their paper and pulp factories producing toilet paper for China…
This was all too much for the Greens who want Finland to be carbon neutral soon, unlike the two big opposition parties – the True Finns and Conservatives – who like gorging on cars, fossil fuels and meat!
Anyway, the Greens just wanted to raise their voices to show that they had teeth. The big media here thought that this would be the end of the government but that did not happen because the True Finns and the Conservatives are running high in the polls. New elections would kill the present government!
“Pop goes the weasel” would be an appropriate epitaph for this event – meaning that you can go on drinking until there is no money left…
True Finns kick out their Fascist – One of the high officials in the Young True Finns Association declared himself to be a Fascist, and the bosses in the party HQ decided that was a bit much. Finns are generally modest and soft-spoken and boasting that you are a fascist with a loud voice is just not done – so they expelled him from the party.
According to Wikipedia the term “facist” as a label is in decline: Since the end of World War II in 1945, few parties have openly described themselves as fascist, and the term is instead now usually used pejoratively by political opponents.
Comparing yourself to Mussolini or Hitler, the fascist leaders of the Kingdom of Italy and Nazi Germany, respectively is not smart in today’s heated populist times when telling the truth is not kosher.
