On November 6 2013, Junes Lokka, aspiring Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and member of anti-immigration and anti-Euro Muutos 2011 political party, expressed xenophobic sentiments and used the N-word in a comment he posted in response to my blog post related to the case in which he referred to a news chief as a "whore".
Junes Lokka became known to the public for the wrong reason -- when he referred to a Yle news manager as a "whore". His action in the Yle case outraged a cross section of the public and attracted condemnation. For instance, a young activist argued (in Finnish) that Junes Lokka's behavior was immature. On my part, I supported the immaturity argument and added that there should be legal and political consequences for such behavior. I concluded that the MEP candidate isn't ready for the European Parliament-- since in my view the parliament is no place for people who make no secret of their sexism and other forms of prejudice against minority groups.
In response to my take on the Yle "whore" scandal, Junes Lokka used the N-word and asked me to "go back" to my country of origin -- as seen in the screen shot.
In my opinion, Junes Lokka's response - besides being racist and xenophobic - once again falls short of what is expected of a would-be MEP. The budding politician is on the wrong side of history. MEPs represent Finland in the European Parliament and I think the good people of Finland won't appreciate a sexist, racist and xenophobic representation. No person of good conscience - and there're many of them in Finland - would vote for a candidate who uses derogatory words to abuse, bully and demean people on grounds of sex, race, gender, origin, ethnicity or other grounds.
It's worth mentioning that the N-word comment was not approved because it violates my blog rules and regulations, hence it doesn't appear under the article in which it was posted. However, I thought the Finnish electorate has the right to know the abhorrent comment posted online by Muutos 2011's European Parliament candidate - less than a week after the "whore" comment. By their words we shall know them.
Muutos 2011 reportedly considered Lokka's dismissal from the party. According to Iltä-Sanomat, the party also deliberated his European Parliament candidacy. Dismissal, in my view, is unlikely - considering the fact that the party admitted James Hirvisaari, one of Finland's most controversial MPs who was dismissed by the Finns Party.
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