The otherwise uneventful General Election in Oulu may be about to become more interesting as one party officially complains to the police about a dirty tricks campaign.

True Finns (Perussuomalaiset), which calls for stricter immigration controls and just missed out on a Parliamentary seat in Oulu, have complained to the police about the vandalising and tearing down of their election posters in the city. This ‘vandalism’ occurred in various parts of Oulu as well as in other towns in the electoral district. The complaint has also been reported in The Kaleva.
 

According to True Finns candidate Veli-Pekka Kortelainen, who came fifth on the party’s list of eighteen in Oulu, most of the posters were vandalised in the week just before the election. Most True Finns votes were gained on election day itself so Mr. Kortelainen believes the tactic may even have cost the party a seat in the Finnish Parliament.

‘Only two posters survived without being torn,’ complained the Philosophy student, ‘and others were smudged.’

The candidate also commented that a poster depicting True Finns leader Timo Soini, displayed near  Oulu police station, was defaced with a Hitler moustache as was a poster of him on the party’s campaign ‘house’ in Rotuari.

In Mr. Kortelainen’s view, the extent to which True Finns’ posters were defaced or torn down means that this was almost certainly part of a deliberately orchestrated campaign by the party’s opponents.

Such ‘dirty tricks’ are rare in the normally quiet world of Finnish politics. However, according to Mr. Kortelainen, the same tactics were used against the True Finns’ predecessor, the Finnish Farmer’s Party, in the 1970s. This party split from the Centre Party which is traditionally very popular in Oulu.  

True Finns’ percentage of the vote increased at this election from 1.5 percent to 4 percent and they gained two seats. Their vote also increased substantially in Oulu but it currently has no councillors in the city.

The party advocates leaving the EU, tighter immigration controls and ending the perceived privileges of the country’s small (5 percent) Swedish-speaking minority, including compulsory Swedish-language classes in Finnish-speaking schools. The party is accused of being ‘far right’ and ‘populist’ by some opponents.  

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