An bhfuil port na gciníochaithe i Fhionlainn seinnte?

Panu Höglund

Le deich mbliana anuas chuaigh Páirtí na bhFíor-Fhionlannach ó bhua go bua i dtoghchán na Fionlainne. Bhí an chuma ar an scéal go raibh an páirtí le seilbh a ghlacadh ar an tír scun scan, rud a scanraigh ionainn, ó tharla go raibh de nós ag lucht leanúna an pháirtí míle murdar a bhagairt ar aon duine – gnáthshaoránaigh neamhpholaitiúla go mór mór san áireamh – nach raibh ag aontú leo ar cheist éigin.

Anois, d’imigh sin agus tháinig seo. I dtoghcháin na rialtas áitiúil i dtús an Aibreáin chaill na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh leath a gcuid vótaí i gcomparáid leis an olltoghchán dhá bhliain ó shin, agus b’ábhar faoisimh don chuid is mó againn é. Dealraíonn sé nach bhfuil an ghaoth ag séideadh do na ‘náisiúnaithe’ Faisisteacha sa chuid eile den Eoraip ach an oiread. Mar sin, cén fáth nach bhfuil ag éirí leo san Fhionlainn a thuilleadh?

Thar aon rud eile tá Timo Soini, cathaoirleach an pháirtí ó lá a bhunaithe, ag éirí as. Thóg Timo Soini na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh i dtús na nóchaidí ar iarsmaí Pháirtí Tuaithe na Fionlainne, nó ‘lucht leanúna Vennamo’, mar a thugtaí ar an bpáirtí sin. Go bunúsach ba é Veikko Vennamo a chuir tús leis an bpáirtí sin i ndeireadh na gcaogaidí, agus ba é ba spreagadh dó sin ná gur éirigh idir Vennamo agus lucht ceannais a sheanpháirtí, Aontas na Tuaithe, ar a dtugtar an Páirtí Láir inniu.

Soini arís, bhí urraim mhór aige do Vennamo riamh: rinne seisean staidéar ar an eolaíocht pholaitiúil agus scríobh sé a thráchtas máistreachta faoi Vennamo agus faoi phoblachas i bpolaitíocht ár dtíre, ba é Vennamo an pobalóir ba mhó anseo riamh. Nuair a chuaigh Soini i gceannas ar an bpáirtí nua, shílfeá gur cineál turgnamh eolaíochta polaitiúla a bhí ann.

Bhí sé ina dheilín ag na hiriseoirí go dtí le déanaí nach raibh radacachas eite deise den chineál a d’fheicfeá i dtíortha Iarthar na hEorpa i gcoitinne – nach raibh a leithéid ag bagairt ar an bhFionlainn, toisc go raibh pobalachas simplí dúchasach Soini ann a chuir ar chumas na sochaí an brú a scaoileadh go sábháilte – comhla sceite mar a déarfá. Mar a d’iompaigh an scéal amach, ní raibh an ceart acu. Tá radacaigh chiníocha tar éis an páirtí a shealbhú le fada an lá, agus níl mórán fágtha den phobalachas seanaimseartha. Is mithid do Soini imeacht, ach is deacair a rá an féidir leis an bpáirtí déanamh ina uireasa.

Nó tar éis an tsaoil níl an t-údarás céanna ag aon duine de na ciníochaithe óga fanaiceacha a cheadódh dó an páirtí a choinneáil le chéile. Bíonn ceannairí beaga radacacha ag caitheamh anuas ar a chéile cheana féin, agus cuid acu fuair siad an sac ón bpáirtí, rud a d’fhág an-fhonn díoltais orthu. 

An dóigh a mbíonn dronga nua-fhaisisteacha ag tarraingt trioblóide sna sráideanna inniu, cuireann sé isteach ar Thadhg an mhargaidh féin. Fiú iad siúd a bhfuil amhras orthu faoi cheist na himirce is dócha gur tuigeadh dóibh go raibh níos mó coiriúlachta ag baint le gníomhaíocht sráide na heite deise radacaí ná leis an imirce – go raibh an ‘cógas’ ag éirí i bhfad ní ba dhainséaraí ná an ‘galar’.

Mar sin, thréig siad an páirtí a shamhlaigh siad leis an sruth nua míthaithneamhach seo i saol na tíre.

Scríbhneoirí Gaeilge ón bhFionlainn é Panu Höglund.

ENDS

Is the race of Finland’s racists already run?

Panu Höglund

For 10 years, the True Finns party has gone from one election victory to another in Finland. It’s even been looking like the party would take possession of the entire country – a scary prospect indeed, as its activists have made it their trademark to threaten anyone who doesn’t accept some stance of the party with bloody murder.

Now things have changed. In local government elections in early April, the True Finns lost half the votes they gained two years ago in the general election, and that was a great relief for most of us. It seems that fascist ‘nationalists’ are loosing their momentum in the rest of Europe, too. So why aren’t they successful in Finland anymore?

Above all, Timo Soini, the chairman of the party, is now resigning. He built his party in early 1990s on the ruins of the Finnish Rural Party, or the ‘Vennamoists’ as they were usually called. That party was started by Veikko Vennamo towards the end of the 1950s because of his conflict with the leaders of his previous party, the Agrarian League, now known as the Centre Party of Finland. 

As regards Soini, he was always a fan of Vennamo’s, and when he studied political science, he wrote his Master’s thesis about Vennamo and populism in Finnish politics, Vennamo being the greatest ever populist in our country. When Soini became the leader of the new party, you’d think it was a political science experiment.

Until recently, it has been a cliché in Finnish political journalism that the kind of right-wing radicalism you’d see in most western European countries could not exist in Finland, because Soini’s homespun populism already existed as a safety valve. This turned out to be wrong. Racist radicals have long taken over the party, and there is little left of old-fashioned populism. Soini must go now, and his party can hardly do without him.

After all, none of the young racist radicals has the authority to keep the party together. Leaders of small radical factions tend to abuse each other, and some of them have already been sacked by the party, which has made them vindictive.

The way neo-fascist gangs are making trouble in the streets today disturbs ordinary citizens. Even those who are generally skeptical about immigration seem to have understood that the extreme right’s street activities entail more crime than immigration – that the ‘medicine’ is becoming more dangerous than the ‘disease’. 

As such, they have abandoned the party they associate with this new uncomfortable strand in the life of our country.

Panu Höglund is a Finn who writes in Irish.