Paavo Lipponen is the quintessential hack politician, who has worked/gamed the system for his own political advantage for decades. But to be fair, the political system in Finland is rigged to ensure a somewhat equal political dominance of all the top parties (The Finns are anomaly). It also ensures them from any inside pressure (due to the lack of primaries) to actually listen to the voice of the people, meaning real change in party policies.
Paavo Lipponen’s SDP has had an enormous amount of political power and dominance over the past two decades, which in part is due to a faithful media. With that dominance comes the freedom to mold and bend the public discourse to suit your own political aims and agenda, something of which Lipponen has managed to do rather well.
Where this is going, is that Paavo Lipponen is the very last person who should be lecturing anyone. He told bald faced lies to the Finnish people concerning the EU constitution, saying that it would never replace the Finnish constitution. He’s a lying hack, as well as giving a thumbs up for the undemocratic office of the EU presidency. What a joke. KGS
NOTE: So you’ll have to pardon me for saying: HEY LIPPONEN, SCREW YOU!
Lipponen condemns The Finns with strong words
YLE: SDP Presidential candidate Paavo Lipponen has warned the Finns party not to joke about basic democratic values. In Lipponen’s opinion it is now time to create clear boundaries for the hard right both in politics and in wider society.
His comments follow Thursday’s suspension of Finns party MP Jussi Halla-aho from the party’s parliamentary group for two weeks, after he advocated a military junta for Greece in a Facebook posting. Party chair Timo Soini had initially called for a month-long suspension.
Lipponen told a crowd on Sunday that he found it difficult to believe that one of the leading figures in parliament could joke about democracy in that way, and have the matter resolved by a short suspension. He also criticised comments from leading party figures, who continued to say that the problem was bad taste humour even after Halla-aho had been suspended.
“The Finns party’s parliamentary group and the party leadership don’t seem to realise what kind of issues they are joking about,” said the former Prime Minister. “What kind of significance does the minimum punishment have, if the parliamentary group leader still calls dictator comments “humour” even after the “punishment” has been handed down?”
“The Finns should disassociate themselves from extremists”
Lipponen reminded the Finns party that their startling rise in support was down to the workings of democracy. If the party does not clamp down on extremism, it may find co-operation in parliament impossible.
“Involvement in constructive co-operation is also on offer,” said Lipponen.
The former speaker of parliament also warned against diminishing acceptance of minorities and their rights within society.
“We all have a responsibility,” opined Lipponen. “If we just watch from the sidelines, either in public statements or in everyday situations, we are accepting a degenerative development in our country’s morality.”
Responding to Lipponen’s comments via his blog, Finns party leader Timo Soini said that he did not accept smears or belittling statements about his party, “even from Paavo Lipponen”. He has previously described Halla-aho’s punishment as “rough”.
Ha ha. Looks as though he is just about to launch into a little tap dance.
Halla-Aho appears to be a loose cannon. Perhaps he’s better suited to polemics than government.