Helsinki
The Finnish right wing government is in chaos Monday, as the newest storm of racist allegations has descended on the newly formed coalition.
Comments from the far-right Perussuomalaiset (Finns Party) chairwoman Riikka Purra surfaced monday, in which Purra called black people the N-word, complained about immigration, the BMI of somali people, and even went as far as to say if she was on a train with somalis with a gun “there would be bodies.” The comments had been written in the guest-book of Jussi Halla-aho, a prominent Finns Party MP and current speaker of government, under the name Riikka.
The comments have been received with outrage in Finland. Riikka Purra commented on them, neither denying or admitting to having written them, simply stating “some I agree with, some I don’t.” She instead blamed the media for focusing solely on her parties comments, saying “if you want to dig up my pre-politics past, you’ll find a lot more.” Coalition leader and Fresh Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, a member of the centre-right party has yet to comment.
The current scandal follows another one last month. Finns MP and Minister of Foreign Affairs Vilhelm Junnila was forced to resign, after details linking him to multiple Nazi groups surfaced. The Finns appointed MP Ville Rydman to the post, another Finns Party member with a scandalous past, having been accused of sexual assault and harassment by many women, including women who were children at the time of the allegations having taken place.