Opposition Finns Party chair Timo Soini has said he does not intend to take any action following the recent ruling handed down by the Supreme Court against Finns MP Jussi Halla-aho.
“Halla-aho and the Finns Party will have to live with this ruling, although Halla-aho was not an MP at the time that he wrote the statements,” Soini said.
“I think the ruling was just and I won’t take the matter any further,” he added, noting that Halla-aho had been subjected to merciless publicity as a result of the case.
The Finns Party chair said that Halla-aho’s fate as chair of Parliament’s Administration Committee (which has responsibility for immigration) rests with committee members and other members of the house. Soini noted that other parliamentary group would have to take the initiative on removing Halla-aho.
Soini conceded that after following the case for the past four years he had changed his view, and no longer felt that a conviction for racism should prevent anyone from serving in the party’s parliamentary group.
He also felt that the sentence does not prevent Halla-aho from running as a Finns party candidate in municipal elections due in the autumn.