The Finns Party has removed a former minister from its team negotiating the next government’s programme after he admitted sending suggestive messages to women on social media. His departure was reported first by Helsingin Sanomat.
Toimi Kankaanniemi, a former leader of the Christian Democrats who defected to the Finns Party after failing to win a seat at the 2011 election, admitted sending "sexually charged messages and direct sexual overtures" to women in different parts of Finland after political conversations on Facebook.
Finns Party parliamentary group chair Jari Lindström said that he had encouraged Kankaanniemi to leave the coalition talks, and Kankaanniemi himself later confirmed to HS that he was leaving the talks.
He had earlier said that "Facebook is a bad friend" and has deleted his profile on the website. He had been hoping for a ministerial post or a role as speaker of parliament after receiving strong support at the recent election.
