[Walls of text] Whose party is it anyway? A game of Finnish politics where everything is made up and the votes don't matter.

23  2017-06-13 by Kazruw

During the last few days Finland has experienced the biggest political rollercoaster ride in ages. This is a true story of political struggle that created great drama, toppled the government, propped it back up again and left everything unchanged before anyone could make sense of what was going on.

Trouble started brewing earlier this year when Timo Soini, one of the founders and the leader of the second biggest party in the Finnish parliament, announced that he would be stepping down. His eurosceptic Finns Party was already suffering from internal tensions as those who just wanted to help the little guy (or claimed so) didn't get along with the race realists. Matters were not helped by the fact that the support for the party had fallen dramatically during their time in the government.

The real crisis began on Saturday, when the deplorables organized a coup and managed to replace the entire leadership of the party. Jussi Halla-aho, who was previously convicted for blogging like your average /r/drama poster, became the new leader, which didn't exactly please the other parties in the government. The survival of the entire government was at stake, and it would all come down to meeting between Halla-Aho and the leaders of the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party.

Yesterday, as the entire nation was holding its breath, Halla-aho acted like a true extremist and said that he would actually be ok with practically everything that the other parties demanded. This left them no choice, but to tell him to fuck off anyway, and prime minister Sipilä announced that he would request president Niinistö to break up the government. The Finnish media went nuts and speculation ran wild.

Would the Finns Party survive? Could a new government be formed without new elections? The first questions was answered today when the vice chair of the party announced that everything was just fine. The second question was settled just 4 minutes later, when 20 out of the 37 parliamentarians in the Finns Party, including all of their ministers, announced that they were splitting to form a new party and they were happy to stay in the government. The crisis was over and everything was settled except for money... and that one poor guy who wasn't even asked to joined the new group.

Finnish parties receive money from the state based on the number seats they win in the elections. Previously new parties could also receive such funding, if they were formed by over 50 % of the parliamentarians of an existing party splitting to form a new one, but an amendment to the statute was driven two years ago by Mr Soini who wanted to keep his party intact. This means that his new party has no source of funding and they're fucking broke. What remains of the Finns Party isn't doing much better, because their tiny savings were apparently funneled to and their offices are owned by a foundation that is controlled by those who split from the party.

There are multiple articles and hundreds of forum posts worth of drama, but it's all in Finnish so you guys are missing out on the most hilarious events of the month.

tl;dr Racist becomes the leader of a populist party and the government implodes, except it doesn't.

11 comments

n/a  SnapshillBot 2017-06-13

Neat.

Snapshots:

  1. This Post - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, snew.github.io, archive.is

  2. Timo Soini - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  3. Finns Party - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  4. the deplorables organized a coup - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  5. Jussi Halla-aho - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  6. convicted for blogging like your a... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  7. didn't exactly please the other par... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  8. it would all come down to meeting - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  9. Halla-aho acted like a true extremi... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  10. president Niinistö - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  11. break up the government - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  12. speculation ran wild - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  13. The second question was settled jus... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  14. they were splitting to form a new p... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  15. The crisis was over - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  16. that one poor guy who wasn't even a... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  17. an amendment to the statute was dri... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  18. e their tiny savings were apparentl... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

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n/a  WikiTextBot 2017-06-13

Timo Soini

Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962) is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party. He has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, since 2015.

He was elected as a member of the Espoo city council in 2000 and the Parliament of Finland in 2003. In the 2009 European Parliament election he won a seat in the European Parliament with Finland's highest personal vote share (nearly 10% of all votes), becoming the first member of the Finns Party in the European Parliament. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Finnish Parliament.

Timo Soini

Timo Juhani Soini (born 30 May 1962) is a Finnish politician who is the co-founder and former leader of the Finns Party. He has served as Deputy Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, since 2015.

He was elected as a member of the Espoo city council in 2000 and the Parliament of Finland in 2003. In the 2009 European Parliament election he won a seat in the European Parliament with Finland's highest personal vote share (nearly 10% of all votes), becoming the first member of the Finns Party in the European Parliament. He was a member of the European Parliament from 2009 until 2011, when he returned to the Finnish Parliament.

Finns Party

The Finns Party, previously known as the True Finns (Finnish: Perussuomalaiset, PS, Swedish: Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a populist and nationalist-oriented Finnish political party, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party in the Finnish Parliament. In the 2015 election the party got 17.7% of the votes, making them the parliament's second largest party. The party was in opposition for the first 20 years of its existence. In 2015 they joined the current government coalition.

Finns Party

The Finns Party, previously known as the True Finns (Finnish: Perussuomalaiset, PS, Swedish: Sannfinländarna, Sannf.), is a populist and nationalist-oriented Finnish political party, founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. In the 2011 parliamentary election, the party won 19.1% of votes, becoming the third largest party in the Finnish Parliament. In the 2015 election the party got 17.7% of the votes, making them the parliament's second largest party. The party was in opposition for the first 20 years of its existence. In 2015 they joined the current government coalition.

Jussi Halla-aho

Jussi Kristian Halla-aho (born 27 April 1971) is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Finland. He is the leader of the Finns Party, part of the European Conservatives and Reformists.

Halla-aho was first elected to the Helsinki City Council in 2008 and to the Finnish parliament in 2011. In 2014 he was elected to the European Parliament. On 13 March 2017, Halla-aho announced that he would stand in the Finns Party leadership election.

Jussi Halla-aho

Jussi Kristian Halla-aho (born 27 April 1971) is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Finland. He is the leader of the Finns Party, part of the European Conservatives and Reformists.

Halla-aho was first elected to the Helsinki City Council in 2008 and to the Finnish parliament in 2011. In 2014 he was elected to the European Parliament. On 13 March 2017, Halla-aho announced that he would stand in the Finns Party leadership election.

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n/a  twinkiac 2017-06-13

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n/a  lokichilde 2017-06-13

I just find it funny that there's a Swedish People's Party in Finland droopy old man balls of Scandinavia.

n/a  Toppo 2017-06-13

They represent the Swedish speaking minority of Finland, about 5%. They don't represent Swedes of Sweden. Swedish speaking minority considers themselves Finnish, so the "Swedish People's Party" refers more to Swedish speaking people's party.

n/a  lokichilde 2017-06-13

I thought Finns were just Swedes in denial tho

n/a  DudeCat 2017-06-13

I think that's the Norwegians. The Finns are quite different - both genetically and Finnish/Suomi is not at all related to the Nordic languages.

n/a  lokichilde 2017-06-13

According to the bork borks I know, the Finns are just Swedes is a running joke tho.

n/a  DudeCat 2017-06-13

Ah, I'm out of that loop.

n/a  Kazruw 2017-06-13

We just like to do things bit differently. That's why our biggest group of eurosceptics is lead from Brussels (Halla-aho is staying there as a member of the European parliament).

n/a  lokichilde 2017-06-13

You weren't kidding about the different part!