Last week, the True Finns announced that it could not participate in a Coalition government that supported the bail-out of Portugal, its opposition to which was a key plank of the party's election manifesto. Announcing the decision, True Finns leader Timo Soini said, "It would have been nice to be part of the government but you cannot betray yourself."Soini may have passed up on power, but his decision seems to have gone down well with voters. In an opinion poll carried out at the end of last week - when it had already become clear that the True Finns would not join the government due to the Portugal bail-out - the party got 22.4%, beating its election score by over 2% and making it the biggest party for the first time. It is trailed by the National Coalition Party on 20.6%, the Social Democrats on 18.6% and the Centre Party on 14.4%.
At this rate - particularly if the eurozone continues to deteriorate, requiring more bail-outs - Soini could become absolutely lethal in four years' time. It's that tension again, inherent in the eurozone structure - political ambition vs national democracy vs. economics...
On a separate note - irrespective of what we think of the True Finns - there's an interesting contrast here to a certain UK party, which, upon joining a Coalition government as a junior partner dropped from 23% at the election to 18% just over a month later and falling even lower this year.
5 comments:
The True Finns voters are supporting them for sticking to their principles.
Lib Dem voters are punishing them for not sticking to theirs.
However Lib Dem voters would *also* have punished them for *NOT* getting power (yet again) if they hadn't gone into coalition.
The idea of a politician sticking to his principles and his promises, despite missing out on the chauffeured limo, as a result must be a first in politics.
Well done Toimi.
Amazing: a politician with principles, which he will not betray to get a slice of power. Well done, True Finns.
I hope some of our creeps learn from this experience; I hope we in UKIP would do likewise.
The True Finns may be the saviors of Europe, if they succeed in stopping the madness of dumping taxpayer money down the rat hole of sovereign bailouts.
The UK has its own version of the True Finns--the United Kingdom Independent Party (UKIP). UKIP stands for traditional English liberties, which includes free markets and an independent government not subject to foreign rule.
This will not be appreciated in Brussels. The voice of the people not going the direction of their grand plan
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