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Finnish MP's "racist" social media post sparks political outcry
🇫🇮 Finland /Culture & Society

Finnish MP's "racist" social media post sparks political outcry

From Helsingin Sanomat · () Finnish

Translated from Finnish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Social Democrat party leader Antti Lindtman criticized a Finns Party lawmaker's recent social media post as racist and unacceptable.
  • The lawmaker, Mauri Peltokangas, questioned whether voters wanted an "Afkan-Muslim" as a minister, implying they would not represent Finnish interests.
  • Lindtman demanded Prime Minister Petteri Orpo address the "openly racist statements" from his coalition partners, while another party leader also deemed the post inappropriate.

Antti Lindtman, the leader of Finland's Social Democratic Party (SDP), has strongly condemned a recent social media post by Mauri Peltokangas, a member of parliament from the ruling Finns Party, calling it "unacceptable" and "openly racist."

Today another line was crossed when a member of parliament from a government party directly attacked our vice-chair Nasima.

— Antti LindtmanLindtman expressed his strong disapproval of Peltokangas's social media post targeting Razmyar.

Peltokangas's post on Facebook questioned whether voters desired an "Afkan-Muslim" to serve as interior or foreign minister in the next term. He further implied that a "Muslim-Democrat" would not advocate for the interests of native Finns if elected. The post specifically targeted the SDP, suggesting the party aims to fill the country with Islamists and install a Muslim minister.

In response, Lindtman stated on Facebook that the SDP does not tolerate hate speech, racism, or discrimination. He defended his party's vice-chair, Nasima Razmyar, against Peltokangas's remarks, emphasizing that such language is unacceptable towards anyone, especially a party colleague. Lindtman expressed no surprise that "one of the government parties" engages in politics fueled by confrontation and racism, directly questioning Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's stance on these "openly racist statements" from his coalition partners.

Does Prime Minister [Petteri] Orpo accept the openly racist statements of his coalition partners?

— Antti LindtmanLindtman directly challenged the Prime Minister to address the alleged racism within the ruling coalition.

Jukka Kopra, the parliamentary group leader for the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), also deemed Peltokangas's writing inappropriate, stating it does not align with the dignity of a member of parliament. Kopra indicated that the Finns Party's parliamentary group must evaluate its position and decide on any necessary actions. Peltokangas, however, reportedly told Iltalehti that his post was not directed at any specific individual.

Representative Peltokangas's writing is completely inappropriate and does not belong to the actions befitting the authority of a member of parliament.

— Jukka KopraKopra, leader of the National Coalition Party's parliamentary group, also criticized Peltokangas's remarks.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Helsingin Sanomat in Finnish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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