Finns Party MP Juha Väätäinen says that he will not leave the party, even though he has decided to give up his planned candidacy in the Helsinki municipal elections.
Väätäinen said that he will stay in his parliamentary group, and plans to run in the 2014 elections for the European Parliament if and when he is asked.
Väätäinen was recently ousted from his position as chairman of the local Helsinki Finns Party organisation in a move which he says was unlawful.
He has not yet decided if he would seek the post again.
Väätäinen criticised Finns Party chairman Timo Soini for not supporting Väätäinen’s municipal election bid and for not supporting him in his conflict with the Helsinki district organisation.
He said that Soini’s weakness is his poor state of health, which he ascribed to obesity and an excessive work load.
Reacting to Väätäinen’s observations, Soini said that he does not take health advice from anyone.
As for the legality or illegality of the actions of the Finns Party’s Helsinki district organisation, Soini said that there are two opinions on the matter, and that if someone wants to make an issue of it, the place to do it is Helsinki District Court.
