Nordic dilemma over how much to include the populist parties

Populist parties have shaken the political elite across Europe. But as groups such as the Finns, France's National Front or the UK Independence Party grow in popularity, establishment parties face a dilemma, summed up by a former senior Finnish minister.

"The question is: is it better to embrace them or ignore them completely? Which is the better way to kill them off?" he asks.

It is a question that all four big Nordic countries have answered, in different ways and with varying degrees of success, which are instructive for . other European countries.

The question comes up again on Sunday with Finland's elections. The Finns (having dropped the "True" from their name) have established themselves as one of the four big parties fighting to be part of the next government.

But in recent polls they have lost close to a quarter of their support compared with the 2011 elections, pulling in about 15 per cent instead of 19 per cent. Turmoil in Greece may still help the party in these elections as it did last time. Other parties, however, are taking a tough line on Greece too, limiting the Finns' appeal.

So should a new government try to bring the Finns into a coalition or keep them outside? Timo Soini, the Finns' leader, has tamed down his party's wilder fringes and is open about his ambition to join the next government.

Much will depend on the final election result, with three of the four largest parties likely to have to form a coalition. But Juha Sipila, frontrunner to be the next prime minister, says he would be happy to have them in government. Alex Stubb, the current prime minister, adds that the Finns are much better than their reputation abroad. Still, plenty in Mr Sipila's Centre party would like to see the Finns excluded.

That would emulate Sweden. All the mainstream parties there have ostracised the populist, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

But after they came third in September's elections with 13 per cent there are increasing doubts as to whether exclusion is the right strategy. Several of the smaller centre-right opposition parties have debated whether to end the broad consensus on immigration and introduce some restrictions, albeit much less severe than the Sweden Democrats propose.

Much of the revulsion over the Sweden Democrats stems from its roots in the neo-Nazi movement. Karl-Petter Thorwaldsson, a Swedish labour leader, points out that populist parties in Norway and Denmark had their background in the anti-tax movement, making them "more fun".

That is one reason why in Norway governing parties have embraced the populist Progress party, which was born in the 1970s to press for lower taxes. It has been in government for the past two years in tandem with the Conservatives. 

But in recent months Progress has received some of its worst poll results in two decades, pulling in only about 10 per cent, as its voters seem disappointed with its achievements in government. "It's always a challenge governing a country. We have seen ups and downs," says the party leader and finance minister, Siv Jensen.

Norway is thus Exhibit A for taming a populist party by bringing them into government. But head further south to Denmark and the results become less clear.

The Danish People's Party may never have been in government, but they were a support party for the previous centre-right administration over eight years, gaining influence over policies in return for parliamentary help. 

The anti-immigration party has since grown stronger, topping polls in June's European parliament elections and causing the establishment parties to toughen their rhetoric on immigration. Largely embraced by the system, the party still appears to be flourishing.

It therefore seems little wonder that Anders Borg, Sweden's well-regarded former finance minister, sums up the Nordic predicament on dealing with populists by saying: "The problem is we don't have a good answer."

Still, many Norwegians and Danes would argue some answers are worse than others. Ignoring a populist party, as in Sweden, is unlikely to make it go away, and risks alienating a large part of the electorate. Bringing such a party into the mainstream might not kill it off, but it can bring extra scrutiny of their policies.

[email protected]

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation