The Great Nordic Thread

[Diouf]

New Cabinet in place: Kristian Jensen established as Liberal heir



The new three-clover cabinet was presented to the Queen today. Younger and with more women (from 30 to 40%). The Liberal deputy leader Kristian Jensen is now also Finance Minister, the second most important post in the government. Thereby Jensen seems firmly established as the heir in the Liberal party once Lars Løkke Rasmussen resigns. Surprisingly, Jensen is replaced as Foreign Minister by Liberal Alliance leader Anders Samuelsen. The Liberal Alliance has mostly focused on domestic affairs, economy and taxation in particular, so he was excepted to get an economic post. LA is somewhat Eurosceptic, supported no in the December referendum, but the government programme is a standard pro-EU one, so it likely won't be a big problem. Also, Samuelsen was previously (2004-2007) a MEP for the extremely pro-EU Social Liberal Party, so he knows how to sound a pro-EU line internationally. Conservative leader Søren Pape as expected becomes Minister of Justice, a typically important Conservative area, and with agreement on more police officers, a new police cadet education and higher punishments for violent crimes, he should have a decent opportunity to get some positive media attention. The wild card is the Liberal Alliance's Thyra Frank, new Minister of the Elderly. She is not exactly a typical politician; she used to run a private elderly home which became famous for its liberal booze and smoking policies. She was elected a MP in the 2011 election, but did not get re-elected in 2015 despite Liberal Alliance's increase in seats. I could worry for how she will handle potential cuts to the elderly care, although she might be lucky that the DPP will fight hard to avoid any such notion.

[Diouf]

Norway government at risk as budget talks break down

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://www.thelocal.no/20161130/norway-government-at-risk-as-budget-talks-break-down

[Helsinkian]

In the town of Imatra, Eastern Finland, a man shot three people with a rifle in front of a restaurant. One of the victims was the chairwoman of Imatra's city council (social democrat), and the two others were reporters. Despite speculations of a political motive, the police believe that the shooter chose the victims at random. The shooter was then apprehended by police without resistance.

[Diouf]

The majority supporting the Danish government has risen from 90, the minimum necessary, to 91 as the Greenlandic Independent MP Aleqa Hammond has stated that she will not vote against the government in so called cabinet questions; bills where the government has stated that they will consider a defeat as a no-confidence motion. Hammond has in return become chair of the Committee of Greenlandic Affairs, a post previously held by a Liberal MP. This means that the government should be able to survive one defection from one of their parties or from the DPP without falling.

[Diouf]

Berlingske polling average per 9 January

Social Democrats 26.4% (+0.1% compared to 2015 election)
Social Liberals 5.5% (+0.9%)
Conservatives 4.0% (+0.6%)
New Right 2.7% (new)
SPP 4.9 (+0.7%)
Liberal Alliance 6.4% (-1.1%)
DPP 16.4% (-4.7%)
Liberals 18.9% (-0.7%)
Red-Green Alliance 8.3% (+0.5%)
Alternative 5.8% (+1.0%)

Overall, the Red Bloc opposition parties would win 90 seats, while the Blue Bloc parties would win 85. The only major change is the big drop for the DPP, mostly due to the EU expenses scandals.

The main question in the spring will be whether it will be possible for PM Løkke Rasmussen to find a political balance, that allows him to keep LA and the Conservatives somewhat happy within the government without moving the government's economic platform so far right, that compromises with the DPP and/or the Social Democrats become impossible. This will be crucial since a number of economic reforms will be high on the agenda. A question that must be resolved is that of a new property tax system, since the old one has shown to be highly deficient. The Conservatives in particular has been outspoken opponents of higher property taxes, particularly for high value properties. Along with LA, they want to lower the taxes compared to the proposal of the previous Liberal government. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats, the DPP and the Social Liberals want to raise taxes for the most wealthy property owners. Similar battles will be fought on the issues of retirement age, income tax and student subsidies, where the two small government parties wants to make the government's proposals more "ambitious"(right-wing) to show their influence in government, which makes it harder to forge compromises. They will probably try to lure the DPP into an agreement on some of these issues by proposing further measures to tighen immigration policies, but I doubt that anything less than the effective termination of Schengen-membership would do, something the Liberals seem unlikely to offer. So unless the DPP can be lured by some radical immigration measures, it seems that the two alternatives are a "puppet government" that won't be able to get support for any of its economic policies, or two small government parties who will be completely trounced with the internal disarray and voter loss that would probably entail, which would in turn destabilize the whole government.

[Diouf]

After an embarrasing months-long discussion about where to place a new police academy, the government could not get a majority for its plan to build a brand new academy in Herning. The Social Democrats and the DPP rejected that idea as they wanted the academy built in existing buildings to make it cheaper and functioning at an earlier time. Therefore they forced the government to start building in existing buildings in Vejle instead. The case has been extra delicate because Løkke-loyalist Lars Krarup, who was a major player in the 2014 Liberal leadership crisis, is mayor in Herning, so many saw it as a gift for Krarup. Especially since the police had originally searched for existing building to place the academy in and been all around the country to look at buildings, before in the middle of the process deciding to go for a new building instead.

The Social Democrats and the DPP could easily destroy the government's plan on the next big case on the agenda as well, property taxation. As expected the two small government parties have forced the government to tack to the right, so they have made a new property taxation proposal without a top property tax. This means the property tax will turn into a complete flat tax rate, and the 15.000 wealthiest property owners in the country would no longer have to pay a higher tax-% for the value above 6 mio DKK (0.81 mio euro). The Social Democrats, the DPP and the Social Liberals were already complaining that the original proposal was not progressive enough, so an agreement will be much harder to reach now.

[DavidB.]

Thanks for your updates, Diouf. You mentioned student subsidies. How are they currently organized in Denmark?

[ingemann]

Thanks for your updates, Diouf. You mentioned student subsidies. How are they currently organized in Denmark?

Student in high school and tertiary education (any education leading) get subsidies if they're above 18.

Between 18-19 the students get a lower subsidies.

Between 18-19 if the amount of money you get depend on the parents income.

While above 20 they get a higher one.

If they live at home they get a lower one.

Beside that they can borrow money from the state at low interest, while they study.

If they earn more than (around) 12000$ a year, the amount of subsidies they can receive are lowered.

[Diouf]

Thanks for your updates, Diouf. You mentioned student subsidies. How are they currently organized in Denmark?

All students aged 18 or older gets student subsidies. The standard rate is 5100 DKK (685 euro) a month after tax. This is what most people in university gets. Many already turn 18 during their youth education (gymnasium/high school, vocational etc), so they start getting subsidies there, but there are at lower rate, and graduated according to their parents' wealth as most people live at home. You can get the full rate if you have to study far from your parents' home, and therefore have to get your own place. If you have a student job, your student subsidy will be gradually reduced once you have reached an earnings limit. On top of the subsidies, there are student loans with low rates. You can loan a further 3000 DKK (400 euro) a month.

The reform proposal of the previous Liberal-only government was to lower the standard subsidy rate to 4300 DKK (580 euro), raise the possible loan amount to 4300 DKK, and raise the earnings limit, so students can work more without getting a lower subsidy. As with the other proposals, the two smaller government parties would prefer the proposal to become more radical before negotiations start with other parties. Compared to retirement age and income tax, it is probably a bit more likely that a deal can be reached on this topic. The Social Democrats and the DPP have both participated in deals with the government that lowered the unemployment benefits for graduates and a ban on taking two educations at the same level (i.e. two different bachelors), so they are not as afraid to upset young students as they are with other groups. However, education policy is one of the few areas where there is normally somewhat agreement in the Red Bloc, so the Social Democrats might not want to destroy that further. Also they have recently stated that they see no more need for economic reforms now, so they would face a minor backlash if they agree to one. The DPP could perhaps agree to it anyway, but they might not want to make another "welfare-reducing" deal, that allows the Social Democrats to criticize them.

[DavidB.]

Thank you for your detailed explanation. Here, the monthly rate was 80 euros for students who lived with their parents and 250 euros for people who lived elsewhere (most often where their university is located), so that is much lower than in Denmark. However, this system was abolished for new students by VVD, PvdA (!), D66 (!) and GroenLinks (!) two or three years ago, so now students without extremely well-to-do parents have to take loans.

[Diouf]

The first real policy agreement by the new expanded government exposes the difficulties it will face in many negotiations. A deal on a new taxi law was immediately criticized by MPs from the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives because it will make it very difficult for Uber to function, a company that especially the former party has loudly praised as a good example. But today the Liberal Alliance Minister of Transportation Ole Birk Olesen presented an agreement that maintains that taxis must have taximeters, seat sensors, clear marking that it's a taxi, the taxi driver/company must have at least 40.000 DKK (€ 5 400) and still needs a special drivers's license, which can be uptained in around two weeks. After the Danish courts recently determined that Uber's activities are covered by the Taxi Law despite their claims to the opposite, these rules had to be removed or reduced drastically if Uber should still be able to function in Denmark. Liberal Alliance MP Joachim B Olsen calls the demands completely ridiculous and protectionist, and calls the Social Democrats and the DPP "luddites" due to their insistence that these rules were not changed. The Conservative Rasmus Jarlov made similar comments. None of them has suggested that they will vote against the agreement, and there is some liberalizations of the taxi business in removing the cap on taxi licenses and removing the geographical limits, so a taxi license can now be used in the entire country. However, especially for the Liberal Alliance this is seen as a clear defeat, particularly due to the instant criticism from their own MPs. The deal was made by the government, the Social Democrats, the DPP, the Social Liberals and the SPP.

The negotiations on the new property taxation system are as difficult as expected, and it is difficult to see how a deal can be reached without another blow to the two minor government parties. The negotiations have been postponed by two weeks now because the Social Democrats and the DPP demands that the government explicitly lays out how the new nice tax cuts for the wealthiest property owners should be financed. At the same time the Liberal mayor of Herning and the most important local politician in the party, Lars Krarup, has criticized the expanded government's new proposal because it mostly benefits property ownerns in Northern Zealand, Copenhagen and Eastern Jutland. He claims the proposal is very risky for his party, and that they should remember their core voters, who are mostly outside these areas.

On top of the other difficulties for the Liberal Alliance, the leader of the Liberal Alliance Youth and his closest supporter in the leadership were both suspended due to illegally gaining access to other members' computers.

[Diouf]

S and DPP make life increasingly difficult for the government



The party leaders of the two biggest parties, Mette Frederiksen and Kristian Thulelsen Dahl, cemented their status as the power couple of Danish politics. In a common interview, where they are joined by the leader of 3F, one of the biggest unions, they again poured cold water on some of the VLAK-government's most important economic proposals, raising the retirement age, top tax reductions in both income and property taxes etc. They also discuss possible government formations, and while the answers are vague, they do open up somewhat for a potential formal coalition. Thulelsen Dahl praises Frederiksen and says that he has already talked more with her this term than he did with Thorning-Schmidt during her entire term as PM. He states that things are not frozen or cast in cement for eternity in relation to the blocs in Danish Politics, and adds that the DPP will try to make it possible for themselves to make agreement across the blocs on different subjects. Frederiksen is even more vague and states that "the closer we get to an election, the more different letter-combinations we will see in relation to government formation", and praises Thulelsen Dahl for their cooperation.

Political commentators are naturally really excited, "an interview whose importance can't be overstated" etc, but I'm not really sure how much to make of it. Perhaps I'm too locked in my thinking that a formal cooperation, i.e. coalition or support party, remains really unlikely for quite some time. I still see too many obstacles for that. I understand that Thulelsen Dahl is very happy to distance himself from Løkke, who is unpopular among a significant part of his voters, but there is relatively little to suggest that they would be much happier about formal cooperation with Frederiksen and the Social Democrats. After the last election, 1/3 of the DPP voters chose the Social Democrats as the party they are least likely to vote for, in July 2016 only 9% of DPP voters stated that the Social Democrats would be their second preference (33% chose the Liberals, 11% Liberal Alliance), and in January 2017 only 14% of DPP voters preferred Mette Frederiksen as PM (38% someone else (i.e. Thulelsen Dahl), 21 % Løkke). Therefore, I think there would be quite a realignment of DPP voters moving to the other Blue Bloc parties if the DPP formally cooperates with the Social Democrats. And while the Social Democrats have moved rightwards on immigration, I still don't see them as more likely than the current government to cross the rubicon between DPP and the other parties on immigration by leaving international cooperation, i.e. UN conventions, ECHR, Schengen or even the EU itself. And the remaining soft left parts of the Social Democrats will probably move to the smaller left wing parties if such cooperation happens. Btw a movement I predict will happen to some extent in the next election anyway once the Social Democrats loudly have to prove how tough on immigration they are.

Another concern is that who would the additional party be in such a cooperation? (in current polls, they only have 79 seats combined). The SPP perhaps the most likely option since they are a bit to the right of the three other left-wing parties on immigration, but I'm not sure they would do well in such a scenario. I think it would take a situation of complete chaos for it to happen, i.e. a situation where at least one of the blocs are no longer functioning. The LA threatened to do that last fall with their repeated threats to take down the government, but instead ended up inside of it and the Red-Greens were at times very mad but never withdrew support. The New Right is perhaps the best shot of it happening; policy-wise they are very similar to the extinct Progress Party, so if they turn out to be as parliamentary unruly and impossible to make agreements with, we could have a post-bloc situation again. Still in such a situation, there might be the giant obstacle of who of the Social Democrats and DPP should hold the PM title, and whether the minor party would not risk legitiatizing the major party, making itself somewhat obsolete. But as I started out with, I might be too locked in my own thinking. The two parties are holding increasingly similar positions on many subjects, and they both occupy the electoral sweet spot with tough immigration policies and centre-left economic policies, where many voters reside, so in some sense formal cooperation would be really logical. And their voters might warm to this cooperation if the policy outcomes are close to their preferred ones.

[DavidB.]

Haha, based on your wording I see you've read Kitschelt and/or De Lange too... Anyway, a highly interesting development. The way I see it, the real impediment to such a coalition is that the Social Democrats and DF are perhaps too much moving toward each other electorally. They want to win over each other's white working-class and lower middle class voters, but, in doing so, they will inevitably lose voters who do not reside in the "sweet spot": SD lose economic left-wingers who are more progressive on the "new dimension" whereas DF lose economic right-wingers. And a big majority of Danish voters do not reside in the sweet spot, even if a plurality do. I especially get the impression that DF do not really understand that a lot of their voters are no economic left-wingers. So the problem for an SD-DF coalition is as follows: if these two parties lose too many seats (or do not win enough), a continuation of the current "deadlock" in bloc politics seems more likely.

However, it is true that the Danish environment seems open to such a coalition, especially in a context in which the blocs are becoming increasingly less relevant. The New Right could support an SD-DF coalition when it comes to DF's pet peeves, whereas SF and perhaps V will be willing to help out the coalition on an occasional basis when it comes to its economic policies. After all, V cooperated with other center-left governments too. In conclusion, I would say an SD-DF coalition is a real possibility because the ideological gap between both parties is becoming progressively smaller. However, they need to have the real desire to cooperate and actively break down "bloc politics" and it needs to be a logical option after the election (which means they cannot lose many voters), which requires DF to tread lightly in moving to the left economically (without pissing off white working-class voters and enlarging the ideological gap with SD).

That said, it could be that I look at this in an overly "polsci" way. Differences in party culture and rhetoric outside the realm of policy matter and are a factor that could make or break the willingness of both parties to cooperate. But I get the impression that both parties are warming up to each other to such a degree that if it does not happen after the next election, it may definitely happen afterwards.

[Helsinkian]

In 2014 the Finnish Parliament passed same-sex marriage as a result of a citizens' initiative. The law takes effect next month. In a last-ditch effort to prevent that, another citizens' iniative was brought to the Parliament, calling for marriage to be defined as an institution between a man and a woman. That initiative was now rejected by the Parliament. Within the parties, the largest switch took place within the Centre Party: in the 2014 vote most Centre MPs were opposed to same-sex marriage, but now two thirds of them were against repealing it; some felt that the issue had become settled, and that it would be wrong to overturn an initiative that was so recently passed. The Finns Party, with a few exceptions, again voted against same-sex marriage, and so did the Christian Democrats.

The same-sex marriage initiative passed in 2014 remains the only succesful citizens' initiative. It was signed by over 160,000 people. The initiative aimed at repealing it was signed by over 100,000 people. An initiative needs to be signed by 50,000 citizens in six months in order for it to be considered by the Parliament.

[DavidB.]

If it was passed in 2014, why did it have to take so long to be implemented? I thought it had already come into effect a long time ago.

[Helsinkian]

There were other laws that needed to be changed before it took effect; laws related to adoption, for example.

[ingemann]

Haha, based on your wording I see you've read Kitschelt and/or De Lange too... Anyway, a highly interesting development. The way I see it, the real impediment to such a coalition is that the Social Democrats and DF are perhaps too much moving toward each other electorally. They want to win over each other's white working-class and lower middle class voters, but, in doing so, they will inevitably lose voters who do not reside in the "sweet spot": SD lose economic left-wingers who are more progressive on the "new dimension" whereas DF lose economic right-wingers. And a big majority of Danish voters do not reside in the sweet spot, even if a plurality do. I especially get the impression that DF do not really understand that a lot of their voters are no economic left-wingers. So the problem for an SD-DF coalition is as follows: if these two parties lose too many seats (or do not win enough), a continuation of the current "deadlock" in bloc politics seems more likely.

However, it is true that the Danish environment seems open to such a coalition, especially in a context in which the blocs are becoming increasingly less relevant. The New Right could support an SD-DF coalition when it comes to DF's pet peeves, whereas SF and perhaps V will be willing to help out the coalition on an occasional basis when it comes to its economic policies. After all, V cooperated with other center-left governments too. In conclusion, I would say an SD-DF coalition is a real possibility because the ideological gap between both parties is becoming progressively smaller. However, they need to have the real desire to cooperate and actively break down "bloc politics" and it needs to be a logical option after the election (which means they cannot lose many voters), which requires DF to tread lightly in moving to the left economically (without pissing off white working-class voters and enlarging the ideological gap with SD).

That said, it could be that I look at this in an overly "polsci" way. Differences in party culture and rhetoric outside the realm of policy matter and are a factor that could make or break the willingness of both parties to cooperate. But I get the impression that both parties are warming up to each other to such a degree that if it does not happen after the next election, it may definitely happen afterwards.

When dealing with Danish politics, it's pretty important to focus on that every country are different, as you said. So while I get your analyse I think it lack some aspects.

DPP are not Wilders parties, they're not tool of a individual. It rose as phoenix out the ashes of the Progress Party, which had elements of that. So the party have traditional been run clique of political allies, who trust and respect each others. This mean that the party are not just some provocateur's tool to create chaos in the existing system. DPP want to be a staying power in Danish politics, they want to be mainstream, have power and most of all they want respect, and SocDem are the party they want that respect from the most.

Next Christiansborg are a pretty small place, there's only a 179 members and most especially the ones who matters have known each others for decades. As such personal relationships are important. Dahl can really not stand the PM, he dislike him both political and personal, and Løkke's negotiation tactics really don't work anymore, it worked until they all found out how much of a used car dealer he is. Dahl and Frederiksen on the other hand like each other and are pretty similar on a personal level both in how they work, but also in how they are. This mean that they work toward a more trusting relationship.

Danish immigration politics are also different than most places, because most of the hardliner parties, mean what they say. They think that "Third World immigration" (the polite way to say Muslims) are problematic for the Danish state, to large extent because they have statistics to prove it. This also mean that parties like SPP are not bleeding hearts and you find hardliners in all parties outside the Social Liberals and the Alternative, even in Unity List. But moreso pretty much every voter which are left in SocDem to some extent accept this premise (including a lot of Muslim who vote for the party), the few voters they will lose with it, will go to other parties on red side, likely SPP which are pretty much SocDem light including on immigration.

DPP on the other hand may lose voters, but they're losing them anyway because of Messerschmidt (corruption are pretty much one of the tow death sins in Danish politics), and their voters are likely to accept cooperation with SocDem, because they also like her better than Løkke, and if they see DPP move toward SocDem as a way to keep the Social Liberal away from power they will support it.   

[DavidB.]

I'm pretty much acquainted with the Danish party system, certainly well enough to know that DF are far from "a Wilders party", thank you very much. But interesting point on the Løkke-Dahl personal relationship and that the Social Democrats, according to you, are being sincere in their skepticism of immigration -- now those are the things that are more difficult for a foreigner to grasp. However, I personally do think a significant part of the DF electorate will have at least some problems with a SD-DF coalition, even if it will be a smaller part of the DF electorate than of most other Western European RRWPs due to the fact that DF has showed that they are serious about their "economic leftism" and ready to walk the walk for a longer period of time (and due to SD's shift to the right on immigration). But in general this remains thin ice for RRWPs because of the fact that their electorates consist of both middle-class people who used to vote for mainstream right-wing parties before and lower-middle class or working-class people who used to vote for social democrats and socialists, even if DF may be the chief example that such a "sincere" shift to the left on economic issues may help a party rather than harm it.

I think it will eventually happen, and I also think it will not necessarily cause the demise of DF, who seem strong enough to survive a coalition that may be unpopular.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Timo Soini is stepping down in a move which could imperil the Finnish government.

[Helsinkian]

Yes, he is stepping down in the summer after 20 years of leading the party. The three frontrunners to succeed him are 1) Jussi Halla-aho, MEP, 2) Sampo Terho, chairman of the parliamentary group, and 3) Jussi Niinistö, Minister of Defence.

Of these three, Halla-aho would be seen as the most "radical" choice, as he has called for a significant tightening of Finland's immigration policies and has also called for Finland's exit from the EU. He has criticized Soini, and most likely he would have ran for the leadership even if Soini had not stepped down.

The other government parties would have little trouble working with Terho or Niinistö as the Finns Party's leader; they would be viewed as a continuation of Soini. Halla-aho's election as party leader might, however, lead to a crisis in the government. It's possible that Halla-aho, if elected, might take the party to the opposition voluntarily as well.

The Finns Party's support now hovers around 10 percent, far from the ~18 percent they got in the last parliamentary election. There will be a municipal election in April, and they are not expected to do very well.

[Diouf]

Timo Soini is stepping down in a move which could imperil the Finnish government.

Certainly if MEP Jussi Halla-aho takes over as party leader. He representes the hard-core right of the party. He has been convincted of racism, and is critical of the government's policies. It's hard to see the Finns Party stay in the government for long with him as the leader.
However, if political spokesperson Sampo Terho or Defence Minister Jussi Niinistö succeeds Soini, then little changes would probably happen. They have both voted for all the government's policies and largely supports Soini's more moderate line. They are unlikely to both run. Niinistö should be Soini's preferred candidate, but is probably not as popular as Terho, and is rumoured as a candidate for the 2018 Presidential election.

Polling among Finns Party local affiliate leaders from January with and without Soini. In both cases, the moderate candidate just beats Halla-aho in the run-off(Soini 54,7 - 45,3, Terho 57,9 - 42,1). However, the leadership election will to a large extent probably be a referendum on the government's policies, so victory for Halla-aho can certainly not be ruled out. Like in most other countries, the refugee policies have been tightened in connection with the refugee crisis. Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia have been declared safe in some areas, so many asylum applications for these countries have begun to be rejected. The number of asylum seekers boomed to 32,476, but has fallen to 5,657 in 2016. However, as in many countries, the government has not taken the ultimate step to stop asylum seekers coming in by leaving UN Conventions, ECHR or Schengen and EU rules. Something Halla-aho and many in the Finns party wants.

With Soini

Without Soini

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

based on the sort of shifts that have occured since the breakout of PS (I.e. less focus on Euroscepticism that centred on Greece, the euro and economic issues; more focus on refugees, law and order and Islam) I would think that Halla-aho is favoured? Certainly it would be a more electorally sustainable path imo, although the figurehead may be a liability.

[Helsinkian]

Sampo Terho is officially running. Jussi Niinistö is not; he's supporting Terho.

[Diouf]

The Ministry of Interior today published the signature count for the parties trying to obtain permission to run in the next Danish general election. 42 new parties are registrered, but only 4 of them have collected more than 1 000 signatures. It requires 20 109 signatures to run. Nye Borgerlige (The New Right) have already collected enough signatures. The Christian Democrats have collected 17 235, so it looks likely that they will be able to run again. Their last succesful election was in 2001, they rather narrowly fell below the threshold in 2005, and in the last three elections they have been stable at 0.8%. I can't really see why they should do any better the next time, but they have a fairly committed bunch of elderly activists and local councillors a few places, so they decided to give it another go. No one else is really close to the signatures threshold. The former nazi Daniel Carlsen, who have moderated a bit, and his Danes' Party have collected 5 685 signatures, so they still have a long way to go. They have gained some attention with gimmicks like handing out "asylum sprays" to "protect you from raping refugees" and have delivered leaflets similar to air plane tickets to the Middle East in areas with many non-western immigrants "to encourage them to go home". The immigrant party the National Party have only collected 2 908, despite several times claiming that they had collected enough signatures to run, but each time "the dog ate them" when asked for evidence. Finally, another new far right party Danish Unity have collected 1 245 signatures.

[Helsinkian]

Sampo Terho is officially running. Jussi Niinistö is not; he's supporting Terho.

Jussi Halla-aho has confirmed that he is running as well.