'True Finns', Stereotypes and Latin

(c) Scandinavia and the World

When Perussuomalaiset won 19.1% in the Finnish Parliamentary Elections last year (39 seats in the Eduskunta), everyone was horrified. Or at least everyone I know. For about a week, every course started with a quick discussion of the elections. And I mean every course, not only the political science courses I was taking; my language and literature courses also started with a discussion of this topic. The Elections were also the big subject when I met with Finnish friends for lunch; the biggest question was: 'Who the hell voted for them?'

For those of you who are not up to date on Finnish politics (Go and check out Helsingin Sanomat's International Edition), 'Perussuomalaiset' are pretty right-wing, comparable to the FPÖ in Austria. This is obvious in their name, which translates roughly as 'True Finns'. What do they want? Well, Timo Soini, the party’s leader, is Finland’s version of Rick Santorum; I guess that about says it all.