JYVASKYLA: Finland’s eurosceptic Finns party, which is part of the ruling coalition, elected an anti-immigration hardliner as chairman on Saturday in a move that analysts said might lead to a break-up of the three-party government.
At a Finns party congress, 56 per cent of its members voted in favour of European Parliament member Jussi Halla-aho while 37 per cent backed the more moderate Sampo Terho.
Halla-aho, who wants Finland to leave the European Union, has said he would push his centre-right coalition partners to tighten immigration policies, and would not stick to the three-party government at any cost.
“We must be more aggressive in raising the topics that distinguish us from other parties... it is important to push our priorities forward more vigorously within the government programme,” Halla-aho told reporters after the vote.
However, the co-ruling pro-EU National Coalition Party (NCP) said it might not want to cooperate with Halla-aho who was fined by Finland’s Supreme Court in 2012 for some comments on a blog.
“This (leader change) requires serious consideration. The Finns party is not the same party anymore,” Finance Minister Petteri Orpo told Verkkouutiset, an online news site close to his NCP party, but did not comment further.
As snap elections are very rare in the Nordic country, a possible break-up of the coalition would likely mean that Prime Minister Juha Sipila from the Centre Party would try to form a new coalition from the current parliament.
That could derail healthcare and local government reforms central to Sipila’s plan to balance public finances.
Sipila, who has yet to comment on the government’s future, is due to meet Halla-aho and Orpo on Monday.
— Reuters
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