True Finns see Portugal bailout opposition growing

Reuters ^ | Apr 20, 2011 | John Acher

[PapaBear3625]

The head of the euroskeptic True Finns party, confident his opposition to the terms of a Portuguese bailout was gaining traction, said on Wednesday euro zone members might face a new solution to the debt crisis by next month.

...

He said the best solution to the European debt crisis would be to require banks to recapitalize and bear more of the liability for debts, as he had suggested during his campaign.

...

Under the existing rules, funding for the expected 80 billion euro package would come roughly one-third from the IMF and two-thirds from the EFSF and a smaller fund managed by the European Commission.

Finland is one of only six AAA-rated sovereign states in the 17-nation euro zone and its participation in EFSF is considered politically vital and financially awkward to replace.

[PapaBear3625]

The anti-EU "True Finns" party won big in last Sunday's election, on a platform of being opposed to Finnish people's tax money being used to bail out spendthrift southern European governments. If the other parties want True Finns in the coalition, they will need to get tough on Portugal's bailout, where Finland is one of the countries with a veto.

They will demand that Europe's international banks suffer losses in the bailout, rather than have taxpayers bear the consequences of their lending habits.

[PapaBear3625]

ping

[maine yankee]

Finns to the right

Finns to the left

And you’re the only bank in town

[heiss]

It is unclear what will happen in Finland. Current government continues until the new government has sworn in (which is probably few days after the deadline to approve Portugal bailout guarantees).

Current government will not do major political decisions, it will only act in admin role (unlike in US, where dems pushed through everything after the elections). Anyway, old parlament is still there and it may be that the old (current) parlament approves the bailout if the deadline demands it. Nobody likes the situation there, but the old parlament may consider that it has to make a decision on its own because of the deadline.

Also, the true position of True Finns (and social dems) is a bit unclear re bailout. They are “skeptical”, not outright opposed.

Personally, I would be ok for bailout, if part of Portugal (say, Madeira islands) is given to Finland in case Portugal fails to pay back. That would be nice demand from True Finns.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Goodbye Euro
Goodbye Euro
Goodbye Euro
It’s time to see you go...

[PapaBear3625]

The Eurocrats will pull whatever dirty bureaucratic tricks they need to, in order to not have the EU fall apart (as it eventually must).

[Viiksitimali]

Political parties feeling out the prospects for government formation disagree on when the issue of the Portuguese bailout ought to be tackled in coalition talks, with the National Coalition Party and the True Finns eager to deal with it at once and the SDP opposed.
Yle News

The current caretaker government cannot approve the support package for Portugal, according to outgoing Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi. Before the election she had said that the current government could propose the measure, but she has now changed her opinion as the government does not now have a majority in parliament. Kiviniemi said in Wednesday’s Helsingin Sanomat that the Portuguese bailout package should be dealt with by the next government. She said that the matter is so big that a caretaker government like the one Finland has now could not propose it in the legislature. Two weeks ago, Kiviniemi still thought that the timetable was so urgent that the measure could be proposed to parliament by a caretaker administration.
Yle News

[bruinbirdman]

"They are “skeptical”, not outright opposed."

"Skeptic" is the leftist euphemism for "anti". Timo Soini is not a skeptic. He is outright anti-bailout.

yitbos

[heiss]

The truth is not black and white here. Soini has not declared his 100% opposition. Unfortunately, I expect Finland to approve the bailout with some face-saving, but meaningless conditions. One example would be that banks bear some of the responsibility (e.g. 10% of the loan guaranteed by banks).
Social dems are probably more aggressive in demanding some “conditions”.

In anycase, even if not approved by Finland, EU simply proceeds with the bailout.