The party’s parliamentary group leader, Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner, said that the matter would be debated again on Thursday during the parliamentary group’s meeting. She, however, noted that the group is unlikely to formally reprimand Hakkarainen.
Over the weekend, Hakkarainen told the tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that homosexuals, lesbians and Somalis could be sent to the Åland Islands to form their own society. The Finns Party MP later said his comment was intended as a "joke."
Åland welcomes Hakkarainen
Swedish People's Party MP Elisabeth Nauclér has meanwhile invited Hakkarainen to visit the Åland Islands, her home province, in response to his remarks.
“Åland is home to 92 nationalities,” said Nauclér in Tuesday’s Iltalehti, adding that, “even Hakkarainen is welcome.”
“I’m not surprised by this latest outburst as he has said derogatory things about minorities in the past,” says Justice Minister Anna-Maja Henriksson, a fellow Swedish People's Party politician. "This speaks volumes of his personal values.”
Hakkarainen is no stranger to controversy. He was reprimanded by his party in his first weeks as a parliamentarian last spring for his widely publicised offensive racial slurs.
