Finnish MEPs lash out at True Finns' leader Timo Soini

Many annoyed at coverage of Soini's candidacy in June elections

Timo Soini

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On Wednesday the Finnish members of the European Parliament attacked Timo Soini, the MEP candidate of theTrue Finns party, who has recently more or less dominated the Finnish Europarliament election discussion.
     
”Soini serves journalists with verbal delicacies, but he practices politics like a stand-up comedian”, charged MEP Eija-Riitta Korhola (National Coalition Party), speaking in Strasbourg, where the European Parliament is having a plenary session.
      In Korhola’s view, Soini is a colourful figure but lacking substance.
      MEP Reino Paasilinna (SDP) claims that Soini has not been able to say which political group he would join if he were elected.
     
Paasilinna predicts that Soini would end up in a group of those politicians who have no comfortable place in any political group.
      ”It is a bunch of blockheads”, said Paasilinna, while stressing that by no means does he regard Soini as a blockhead.
      Ville Itälä (National Coalition Party) thinks that as such it is good that Soini’s candidacy is bound to increase interest in June’s Euro elections.
     
In Itälä’s view, Soini does not take any clear stand on any issues that are handled by the EU, which is why journalists cannot press him for his views.
      MEP Sirpa Pietikäinen (Nat. Coalition) agrees with Itälä, while party colleague Eva-Riitta Siitonen regards it as inconceivable that Soini has declared that he is pursuing a seat on the European Parliament in order to oppose the Treaty of Lisbon.
      ”The treaty is not among the issues to be decided upon in the European Parliament”, Siitonen snapped.
     
The inaccuracy of Soini’s loose Lisbon talk has also irritated Riitta Myller (SDP).
      Satu Hassi (Green League) says that Soini is allowed to beat about the bush without being questioned: ”The entire discussion on Soini is a debate on unessential points”.
      Anneli Jäätteenmäki (Centre) claims that Soini is now the media’s pet, adding that politicians are like summertime cats - first loved and then abandoned.
      Social Democrat MEP Lasse Lehtinen’s guess is that if Soini is elected, in Brussels one could no longer recognise him as the same outspoken EU sceptic as he used to be in Finland.
     
Esko Seppänen (Left Alliance) does not want to get into blaming Soini, saying that the others should just simply outdo him.
      According to Kyösti Virrankoski (Centre), the people eventually decide on whether or not Soini is up to the EU level.
      All sitting MEPs of the National Coalition Party as well as Satu Hassi and Anneli Jäätteenmäki are to stand as candidates in June’s European Parliament election, while the three Social Democrats, as well as Virrankoski and Seppänen, have decided not to run again for the EU Parliament.
     
The European Parliamentary elections will be held in all member-states in June 2009.
      In Finland the election day is June 7th.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finns least aware of EU Parliament election (12.1.2009)

See also:
  Left Alliance and SDP accuse True Finns leader Timo Soini of playing tricks over European Parliament (30.3.2009)

Links:
  Timo Soini (Wikipedia)
  Treaty of Lisbon (Wikipedia)
  Ministry of Justice: European Parliament Elections 2009

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