Vesa-Matti Saarakkala (born 24 March 1984) was a Finnish Member of Parliament from 2011 to 2019 and a member of

Kurikka Kurikka is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and Municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland. It is located in the Southern Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. The population of Kurikka is () and the municipality covers a ...

's city council.

Early life

Saarakkala was born on 24 March 1984 in Kurikka,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. His father was an office manager and his mother worked various jobs before becoming a practical nurse. He has one sister who is older than him by thirteen years.

Political career

Saarakkala represents

the Finns Party The Finns Party ( , PS; , Sannf), formerly known as the True Finns, is a right-wing populist political party in Finland. It was founded in 1995 following the dissolution of the Finnish Rural Party. The party achieved its electoral breakthroug ...

and is the 3rd vice-chairman of the party. He was elected chairman of the youth organization for the party in autumn 2003, and he held the position until 2010. He was elected 17 April 2011 to the Parliament of Finland from the Vaasa electoral district. On 13 June 2017, Saarakkala and 19 others left the Finns Party parliamentary group to found the

New Alternative The Finnish Reform Movement (, Korj), previously known as Blue Reform (), was a Finland, Finnish Conservatism, conservative Political parties in Finland, political party. It was founded by the 19 MPs who left the Finns Party on 13 June 2017 in p ...

parliamentary group. In September 2018, Saarakkala announced that he wouldn't run for the Parliament anymore in the 2019 elections.

Nuiva manifesti

Saarakkala was one of the underwriters of the "Nuiva Manifesti" ("The sour electoral manifesto"), an election campaign program critical of current immigration policy. The other signers were Juho S. A. Eerola,

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, Teemu Lahtinen,

Maria Lohela Maria Tuulia Lohela (, born 11 June 1978) is a Finnish politician. She has served as a Member of the Parliament of Finland from 2011 to 2019. After having maintained her seat in the 2015 election, Lohela was Speaker of the Parliament of Finlan ...

, Heikki Luoto, Heta Lähteenaro, Johannes Nieminen, Pasi Salonen, Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo and Freddy Van Wonterghem.

Circumcision ban proposal

In March 2012, Saarakkala called for the criminalisation of

male circumcision Circumcision is a Medical procedure, procedure that removes the foreskin from the human penis. In the most common form of the operation, the foreskin is extended with forceps, then a circumcision device may be placed, after which the fores ...

in Finland. In October 2012, it was reported that he had plans to submit a bill proposing the criminalisation of ritual circumcision involving males under the age of 15.Denniz Mitzner
Finland debates circumcision
The Jerusalem Post, Published October 2, 2012

Personal life

Saarakkala is married to a classroom teacher. He and his wife have two children together: a daughter named Lilja (born 2009) and a daughter named Sonja (born 2012).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saarakkala, Vesa-Matti 1984 births Living people People from Kurikka Finnish Lutherans Finns Party politicians Blue Reform politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Vaasa (constituency)