Finnish populist party chooses economy minister to replace cabinet member who resigned over far-right ties

A populist party, part of Finland’s recently installed right-wing coalition government, elected a new economy minister on Wednesday, replacing a cabinet member who resigned last week over alleged links to far-right circles and Nazi remarks

From

JARI TANNER Associated Press

Jul 5, 2023 12:34 pm ET

• 2 minutes read

HELSINKI – A populist party, part of Finland’s recently installed right-wing coalition government, on Wednesday selected a new economy minister to replace a cabinet member who resigned last week over alleged links to far-right circles and Nazi remarks.

The Finns Party said in a statement that Wille Rydman, 37, was selected for the post “unanimously”. Rydman has been a lawmaker at Eduskunta, the Finnish legislature, since 2015 and a member of Helsinki City Council since 2012.

He has been involved in national politics since 2007 in the ranks of the National Coalition Party, Finland’s main conservative party, which is the senior partner in the current government under Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who chairs the NCP.

However, in early January, Rydman joined the nationalist Finns Party after being ousted from the NCP last year over allegations of molestation and inappropriate relationships with young women and teenage girls. The case led to a police investigation and he was later cleared of suspicion of wrongdoing.

“I wasn’t prepared for something like that. I have mixed feelings,” Rydman told Finnish public broadcaster YLE after being selected on Wednesday. “It is with a heavy heart that I accept the challenge, as my good friend Vilhelm Junnila has just had to step down from this post. In my opinion, he had to resign due to inappropriate and stigmatizing comments.”

Economy Minister Vilhelm Junnila said on Friday he would resign over, among other things, a speech he gave in connection with a far-right memorial event in the western city of Turku in 2019 – something that caused an uproar on social media after taking the ministerial post .

Junnila, who survived a no-confidence vote in Parliament earlier this month, is also said to have made improper references to Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany on certain occasions. With only 17 days in office, Junnila is likely to become the second shortest cabinet member in Finnish history.

President Sauli Niinistö will officially appoint Rydman on Thursday.

The Finns party has decided that Rydman will serve as economy minister for two years, after which he will hand over the post to his party colleague Sakari Puisto for a further two years.

Orpo’s four-party coalition government, described by political analysts as Finland’s most conservative government since World War II, was sworn in on June 20.