Sex, Lies and SMS in Finland

RadioRaiders · Apr 2, 2008

Oh those crazy Finns....

The Associated Press: Finland's Foreign Minister Ousted

Finland's Foreign Minister Ousted
By MATTI HUUHTANEN – 19 hours ago

HELSINKI, Finland (AP) — Finland's foreign minister was ousted Tuesday by his conservative party over a text message scandal involving an erotic dancer.

The scandal, which had been making headline news for weeks, had eroded trust in and respect for Ilkka Kanerva, said Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen, chairman of the National Coalition Party, which holds the Foreign Ministry post in the coalition government.

"The minister does not enjoy trust," Katainen told reporters. "It's a heavy decision. He's a friend and he's done his work well."

Katainen said he would propose Alexander Stubb, a European Parliament lawmaker, as the new foreign minister. He said he had discussed the matter with President Tarja Halonen and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who was traveling abroad. The appointment was expected to be confirmed on Friday.

Kanerva, 60, initially denied reports in Hymy — a gossip magazine — that he had sent about 200 messages by mobile phone to the dancer, Johanna Tukiainen. But last week he apologized publicly, acknowledging he had sent some messages but insisting they were all work-related.

The 29-year-old dancer said Kanerva had, among other things, inquired about her underwear.

On Tuesday, the Hymy monthly published some of the text messages allegedly sent by Kanerva to Tukiainen.

In the messages, Kanerva proposes meetings and dinner with Tukiainen and her sister, asks whether he would be allowed to touch her at a nightclub and discusses women's clothing.

Kanerva, who held three minister posts in various governments in the 1990s, was chosen to be foreign minister last year by Katainen. In 2005, he was involved in a similar text message scandal when he was a deputy speaker of Parliament.

"He promised he would not repeat" such a scandal, Katainen said, "but he did not keep that promise."

Although Kanerva apparently broke no laws and his longtime partner accepted his apology, there were widespread calls for his dismissal.

The Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that Kanerva was on sick leave and would not talk to the media. A day earlier, Kanerva told reporters he was "fit and well" and had no intention of resigning.

Resignations or dismissals over personal matters are unusual in Finland, where politics and private lives have traditionally been kept well apart. But times appear to be changing in the Nordic nation.

Vanhanen, who on Sunday reiterated his trust in Kanerva, saying the foreign minister's private life was his own affair, has guarded his own privacy vehemently. Last year, he sued his former girlfriend for revealing intimate details about their relationship in a book — but lost.

In 2005, Vanhanen's predecessor and Finland's first and only female prime minister, Anneli Jaatteenmaki, resigned after only two months in office because she lied about leaking sensitive documents.
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dmapr · Apr 2, 2008

Wasn't there a fairly recent episode like that in Detroit?

RadioRaiders · Apr 2, 2008

dmapr said: ↑

Wasn't there a fairly recent episode like that in Detroit?
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So there was...what's going on with these guys?

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US mayor charged in SMS scandal

Mr Kilpatrick was once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party
The mayor of Detroit has been charged with perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office, stemming from a sex scandal six years ago.
Kwame Kilpatrick, 37, who says he will fight the charges, could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted.

He was charged after sexually explicit text messages surfaced that appeared to contradict his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide in 2002.

The aide, Christine Beatty, also faces charges of perjury and obstruction.
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....15 years? C'mon...

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