Nationalist True Finns make gains in Finland vote

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: BBC

A Finnish nationalist party has taken nearly a fifth of votes in the general election, results suggest.

With almost all votes counted, the True Finns were running just behind the conservative NCP and the Social Democrats on around 19%.

While the Social Democrats have called for changes on EU bail-outs, including the planned Portuguese rescue, True Finns opposes the plans altogether.

A hostile Finnish government could theoretically veto the package.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13107620

[laconicsax]

1. Does that mean there's no "No True Finn" fallacy?

:shrug:

[rpannier]

3. Relatives of Huck Finn nt

[pampango]

2. CBC: Conservative nationalist party (opposed to Portugese bailout) made strongest gains

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/04/17/finland-election.html

Finland's electoral commission says the conservative National Coalition Party has won the Nordic country's election, while a nationalist party opposed to eurozone bailouts made the strongest gains.

With all votes counted, the conservatives won 20 percent for 44 seats in the 200-member Parliament. The opposition Social Democrats got 42 seats and the nationalist True Finns soared from six to 39 seats.

The True Finns oppose bailouts for cash-strapped European countries, while the Social Democrats have called for changes to how they are funded.

The outcome means conservative leader Jyrki Katainen will have to invite at least one of them to coalition talks, raising questions about Finland's support for rescue packages that need unanimous approval in the 17-member eurozone.


Chairman Timo Soini of the True Finns celebrates gains his party part in the election.
Finnish voters dealt a blow to Europe's plans to rescue Portugal and other debt-ridden economies,
ousting the pro-bailout government in favour of the conservative National Coalition Party.

[me b zola]

4. I've been seeing the spread of our disease to other nations

...please those of you in other nations, don't think that what is happening here can't happen to you, because it can. Guard with your life your rights, liberties, and way of life.

[Lars77]

5. The left has abandoned the working classes all over the world

Which is why they are turning to populistic, right-wingers for answers.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the US where the two parties are now like two twins, one only slightly more evil than the other.

[madrchsod]

7. the labor was abandoned in the late 70`s

we had enough money to live as well as the management class. as soon as that balance was achieved the money class took our pension and wages. we have never recovered.

[pampango]

8. I don't see that the left has abandoned the working class in Finland.

In what way have the Left Alliance (Finland's socialist party) and the Social Democrats (their more moderate left wing party) which are members of the Socialist International and the Party of European Socialist let down the working class.

Right-wing populists have taken advantage of bad economic times to play the "other" card - don't rescue the Portuguese, keep the immigrants out - things that right wingers do everywhere. They just have more success at it when times are bad.

The left in Finland (as elsewhere in Europe) is more pro-EU (while the right is more nationalistic and eurosceptic) and accepting of immigrants and multiculturalism (common to the left in many places).

http://www.sdp.fi/en/node/2371
http://www.vasemmistoliitto.fi/vasemmistoliitto/left-alliance.html

[Imajika]

9. "Our" disease?

Please, as if the Europeans have never gone right wing before America came along.

The truth, Europeans are no better than Americans when it comes to this sort of thing. Conservatives, nationalists, right wing populists, etc, have always been and will always be a factor in the political process in both the US and throughout Europe.

And to go further, I think a solid case can be made that Europeans are actually more xenophobic and hostile to immigrants than we are here in the United States.

So I guess scratch Finland off the list of places people wanting to flee America can go eh? But seriously, Europe is no more enlightened than America. Politics go in cycles in a democratic system and are affected deeply by the economy, immigration, human nature, incompetent governance, and the fact that people with an actual choice won't usually return the same party to power endlessly.

[krabigirl]

13. +1

[RZM]

11. People in other nations don't necessarily take their cues from the US

In fact, when it comes to immigration issues, I'd say it's the other way around. Immigration issue have always been on the table here and are heating up as we speak, but in Europe they are positively red hot.

Just in the last 5-10 years or so you've had major flashpoints all over Europe . . . the banlieue riots in Paris (not a new phenomenon, of course), the van Gogh murder in the Netherlands, debates about Sharia courts in Britain, Thilo Sarrazin's book and Merkel's 'multiculturalism has failed' speech in Germany, increasing gains in Parliament for anti-immigrant parties in Scandinavia and so on and so forth.

European countries generally do not have a 'nation of immigrants' heritage and many do not have birthright citizenship either. It really is a different context over there.

[Codeine]

12. Nationalism is not unique to our country.

A quick glance at the Balkans in the 90s will show that.

[madrchsod]

6. stormfront is alive and well in europe

they have a large following in england and germany. they also have native tongue discussion groups. the far right wing nationalists are far more organized and have more political power than the far right wing here in the states

[robinlynne]

10. Isn't it Finland where Diebold just took over the vote counting?

[freedomnorth]

14. Votes are hand counted

Computer counting is in use in Estonia.