The far-right Finns Party is losing support, according to a poll by Helsingin Sanomat. A year after winning seats in Finnish parliament for the first time, backing for the Finns has dropped by seven percentage points to around 16 percent, making it only the fourth most popular party in the country.
The nationalist and eurosceptic group, which emerged as the biggest winners at last year’s general elections but refused the join the coalition government, has been rocked by a series of scandals, the most recent of which was a suggestion by a party aide that foreigners should wear Nazi-style armbands so they can be more easily identified by police.
Last October, MP Teuvo Hakkarainen also told reporters that homosexuals and immigrants should be sent to the remote Åland Island, before he used the N-word when referring to immigrants arriving in Finland.
In addition, another party MP, Jussi Halla-aho, raised eyebrows when suggesting that Greece should return to a military dictatorship if it wants to solve its debt problems. He was also previously charged with incitement against an ethnic group after using his controversial political blog to make offensive comments about the Prophet Muhammad.
The National Coalition, led by Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, maintained its lead as the country’s most popular party with 23 percent support, according to the poll.
Conducted by TNS Gallup, 2,436 people were questioned about their political preferences between March 20 and April 15 this year.