The Election Countdown Has Begun
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ISSUE 12 (192) • 24 – 30 MARCH 2011 • €3 • WWW.HELSINKITIMES.FI DOMESTIC INTERNATIONAL LIFESTYLE CULTURE EAT & DRINK Babies Air war Time The return Café idyll napping on to get of the in outside Libya a tattoo? Prince Kallio page 3 page 9 page 14 page 15 page 16 LEHTIKUVA / ANTTI AIMO-KOIVISTO World Bank and Moody’s have faith in Japanese economy HEIKKI KARKKOLAINEN – STT Monday, however, Moody’s said MATTHEW PARRY – HT the government has the fi scal and credit resources to deal with the ACCORDING to a number of esti- catastrophe. mates, the destruction caused by Japan’s Minister for Economic the earthquake and tsunami that and Fiscal Policy Kaoru Yosano es- struck Japan earlier this month is timated last week that the materi- more than twice as great as the ma- al damage caused by the earthquake terial losses suffered during the Ko- and the tsunami would rise to 250 be earthquake in 1995. billion US dollars or around 177 bil- The World Bank and credit rating lion euros. Many economists’ esti- agency Moody’s believe the effects mates were around the 200 billion will be short-term, however. Moody’s US dollar mark. Japanese media re- is convinced that the Japanese state port that the government plans to is able to absorb the economic blow. lend up to 122 billion US dollars to But the credit rating agency adds companies for daily expenses or The leaders of Finland’s eight biggest political parties participated in a televised debate organised by the Finnish Broad- that the risks have increased. quake-related repairs. casting Company (Yle) in Hämeenlinna’s Verkatehdas on 17 March. The crisis may cause Japan’s GDP to contract. In a statement released Read more on page 10. The election countdown has begun Stubb would not send Finnish ALLAN BAIN Starting at the beginning of However, there’s more to this HELSINKI TIMES 2010, the True Finns have gone from election than just the True Finns. troops to Libyan no-fly zone strength to strength in opinion polls For instance, will Finland get its PARLIAMENT was dissolved on 15 and currently sit only marginally be- fi rst National Coalition prime min- STT Both countries have a partner- March, meaning that full-time elec- hind the three big, established par- ister since 1991? Can the SDP put ship for peace with Nato and have tion campaigning has already start- ties of Finnish politics, the Centre, the the brakes on its supposed terminal participated in Nato’s aerial war- ed. The election, which will be held Social Democrats (SDP) and the Na- decline? And will the Green League MINISTER of Foreign Affairs Alex- fare training. Neither Stubb nor on 17 April, has garnered much in- tional Coalition. Until recently it was and the Left Alliance benefi t from ander Stubb made a statement on Carl Bildt, Sweden’s foreign min- terest from all corners of Finnish a fringe party but now stands more the resurgence in concerns over nu- Monday saying that Finland is not ister, had received the request by society, as it has the potential to be than an outside chance of becoming clear power? All will be revealed in to participate in monitoring the Lib- Monday evening. Stubb reminded one of great signifi cance. the leading governmental party. the coming weeks. yan no-fl y zone. that the no-fl y zone had not been or- Instead Stubb suggested that ganised by Nato, and that many of The nuclear disaster in Japan, Finland could participate in deliver- its member countries do support it. however, seems to be changing the ing humanitarian aid to the area or Due to the situations in Libya Nuclear crisis clouds situation. Seppo doesn’t believe helping to evacuate refugees. and Japan, Stubb cancelled the in- candidates and parties will do well Swedish papers reported earli- formal meeting for foreign minis- in this election by merely speaking er on the same day that Nato was ters that was meant to be held in election’s value debate about domestic moral questions. planning to request both Finnish Saariselkä in Lapland last weekend. ANNIINA LUOTONEN – STT pale in comparison. It will overshad- “Value conservatives, too, need and Swedish participation in its Lib- The meeting was intended to pro- AINO BAIN – HT ow, amongst other things, the discus- to discuss energy policy and nuclear ya operations, specifi cally in the no- vide a forum to discuss international sion of same-sex marriage. accidents. They are questions that fl y zone. politics freely and unrushed. THE NUCLEAR disaster in Japan is The Christian Democrats have threaten human dignity and exist- strongly affecting the election debate been waiting for a parliamenta- ence,” Seppo, a professor of church in Finland. According to Emeritus ry election grounded in values that history, says. Professor Juha Seppo, the accident would give Finns the chance to questions those things we take for take a stance on everyday moral This issue of Helsinki Times has a granted so much so that many oth- questions, such as gender-neutral special election theme. For more er important subjects of discussion marriage. articles, see pages 5-7. The time change will affect four Finland Helsinki region commuter trains and ten night trains, however, which will run one hour later according to a spe- switches over cial timetable following the adoption of daylight saving time. The timeta- to daylight bles of some long-distance buses will also be affected. Sunday morning saving time services will run according to day- The clocks will move forward one light saving time. hour at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning. HELSINKI TIMES The observance of daylight sav- MATTHEW PARRY – HT ing and winter time is standard and permanent practice in the Europe- THE SWITCH over to daylight sav- an Union. Coordinated offi cial times The end of winter time will cause time- ing time on Sunday 27 March will are especially important for inter- tabling changes in public transport. English Kindergarten opening in Kallio! not prompt changes in public trans- national train and air traffi c ser- More information on the changes can port in the Helsinki region. Early vices. Finland will return to winter be found on the websites of Matka- Now enrolling 3 to 6 years olds morning bus services in the night time on 30 October, when the clocks huolto, VR and Finland’s city councils. for May 2011. between Saturday and Sunday will will be turned back one hour. follow winter time through to the Daylight saving time, or summer Contact: Thomas Stevens 041 725 6371 end of service. Night-time tickets time as it is know in Finnish, was lished practice in 1981. The clocks www.littleenglishkindergarten.com will also be valid according to win- trialled in Finland for the fi rst time are always changed on the last Sun- ter time. in 1942, but only became estab- day of March and October. 2 24 – 30 MARCH 2011 VIEWPOINT HELSINKI TIMES Viewpoints are commentaries written by experts and authorities about specific topics. You can submit your articles to [email protected]. Articles should be at least 5,000 characters with spaces-long (maximum length 10,000). Helsinki Times reserves the right to accept or reject submissions, as well as to edit or shorten the text. Sarah Hudson is a Helsinki-based journalist and copywriter with an MSSc in World Politics. Apathy: the sign of a healthy democracy dia attention – and not just sive tax – not a fl at one. His paying attention to? The ed- for what the media has all much ridiculed explanation ucational fi elds that can at- We allow the media to decide for us what “the big issues” are and but dubbed their ‘hilarious- was essentially that rich peo- tract corporate backing will as a result we’ve become increasingly apathetic about politics. But ly low-brow policy on art and ple buy 300 euro jeans and continue to function; engi- culture’ – if the rise of the poor people by 30 euro jeans. neering will doubtless not maybe apathy is just the inevitable outcome of a healthy democracy. populist parties bothers you, Essentially, there seems to be lose its funding, economists take a leaf out of the book of a lot of media coverage of the have always known where Mauno Koivisto, two times “taxation issue” but not a lot to fi nd the dollars and IT re- THE MEDIA has for some time through the party-political AS THE NOW infamous lead- former President of Finland. of solid substance to the ac- search will prosper as usual. been excited about the up- machine and spat out the er of the True Finns, Timo When faced with the seem- tual debate. The media chat- Indeed, a similar phenome- coming Finnish election on 17 other end as fully fl edged Soini, himself stated in an ingly indomitable rise of the ter is somewhat wasted in non has long driven the pol- April. As the day looms clos- politicians. interview with Helsingin Sa- populist Finnish Rural Par- the eyes of a populous who itics of education funding in er, however, it seems that in- nomat, immigration is not in ty in the 1980s, he oversaw a are actually interested in pol- many other western nations. creasingly many Finns are ELECTIONS are boring, states and of itself a major issue for government that gave them icies, not political rivalries. Yet what does this mean for not sharing the media’s en- another Finnish acquaint- Finland. For practical pur- seats in the Finnish cabinet.