Presidential candidates turn fire on discrimination
Finland's presidential candidates debated in front of a youthful audience on Thursday night. Racism, internationalism and discrimination were high on the agenda.
Järvenpää High School was the setting for what one online commentator called 'Finland's biggest after-school detention'.
One student asked Finns party chair Timo Soini why he hadn't taken a clearer stand against racism. The appointment of Jussi Halla-aho to chair the parliamentary committee dealing with immigration drew particular criticism from the other candidates.
SDP candidate Paavo Lipponen characterised Halla-aho as 'far right', and said that he would continue to oppose discrimination despite the rise of the Finns party.
Eva Biaudet of the Swedish People's party said Soini is responsible for appointing Halla-aho. Paavo Arhinmäki from the Left Alliance also criticised the move.
Green candidate Pekka Haavisto emphasised collective responsibility to fight racism, and said hate speech had become all too common in Finland. Sauli Niinistö demanded better behaviour from both the media and politicians.
Soini defended his MPs. He said that they had been democratically elected, and criticised so-called 'smear tactics'.
The election takes place a week on Sunday, and advance voting has already started.
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