Sebastian Tynkkynen Explained

Sebastian Tynkkynen
Parliament:Finnish
Party:Finns Party (2012–present)
Birth Date:8 March 1989
Birth Place:Oulu, Finland
Office1:Member of Parliament
for Oulu
Office:Member of the European Parliament
for Finland
Termstart1:17 April 2019
Term Start:16 July 2024
Termend1:15 July 2024
Alma Mater:University of Oulu
Partner:Alan da Silva

Miika Sebastian Tynkkynen (born 8 March 1989) is a Finnish politician. He has been chairman of the Finns Party Youth and third vice chairman of the Finns Party.[1] He was elected as a member of Finnish Parliament in April 2019 and was a candidate as Member of European Parliament for the 2019 elections.

Early life

Tynkkynen was raised in Oulu. In 2011 he participated in the reality television show Big Brother.[2] He studied to become a classroom teacher (M. Ed.) in the University of Oulu.

Political career

In 2012 he joined the Finns Party[3] and ran for the City Council of Oulu, receiving 232 votes[4] but was not elected. In November 2014 Tynkkynen was elected chairman of the Finns Party Youth.[5] He received 1,474 votes[6] in the 2015 parliamentary election and was not elected to the Parliament. However, Tynkkynen was elected third vice chairman of the Finns Party on 8 August 2015, defeating incumbent Juho Eerola.[7]

Tynkkynen criticized the Finns Party leadership for its politics in the Sipilä Cabinet, calling for more euroskeptic and anti-immigration politics.[8] In October 2015 he was expelled from the party. The official reason for this was that he had published a list of names of party members who called for a new party congress. His expulsion was considered illegal by some experts. In January 2016 Tynkkynen was allowed to rejoin the party although he had to give up his position as the vice chairman.[9]

On 20 November 2016 Tynkkynen was succeeded by Samuli Voutila as the chairman of the Finns Party Youth.[10] In late 2018 Tynkkynen tried to regain the Finns Party Youth chairman seat[11] but he got fewer votes than the other candidate Asseri Kinnunen.

In January 2017, Tynkkynen was fined 300 euros for posting on Facebook, "The fewer Muslims in Finland, the better. [...] The less we see of Muslims, it is safer. We have to get rid of Islam before it is too late".[12] In April 2017 Tynkkynen was elected to the City Council of Oulu with 680 votes.[13]

In October 2019 Tynkkynen was convicted of ethnic agitation for the second time and issued a 50 day-fine (approximately 4000 euros based on his income) for comments on Muslims.[14]

From Friday 14 May to Saturday 15 May 2021, Tynkkynen gave the longest ever floor speech at the Parliament of Finland in the entire history of the parliament, lasting almost eight and a half hours from 6:06 PM on Friday to 2:30 AM on Saturday. He argued against the approval of the EU's stimulus package in the speech that was seen as a filibuster to delay the parliament's vote on the matter.[15]

In October 2021, Tynkkynen was convicted for a third time for inciting ethnic agitation, being issued a 70 day-fine (approximately 4400 euros).[16]

Personal life

Since the age of fifteen, Tynkkynen has described himself as bisexual. Later he has described himself as homosexual.[17] He is currently in a relationship with a man from Mozambique.[18] Since childhood he had been a Pentecostal, but he was excommunicated in 2018, because he sees same-sex marriage to be backed by the Bible. The Pentecostal Church does not hold this viewpoint and believes that Tynkkynen had strayed from the Pentecostal school of marriage. Tynkkynen claims that the reason for him being asked to leave the Church was that he was in a relationship with a man.[19]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tynkkynen. Sebastian. Esittely. sebastiantynkkynen.com. 14 April 2017.
  2. News: Taskinen. Mika-Matti. Itsenäisen Suomen puolesta – BB-Sebastianin tie perussuomalaisten johtoon ja sieltä pois. 14 April 2017. MTV3 News. 16 August 2015.
  3. News: Soinin kimppuun BB-talon opeilla - tällainen mies on Sebastian Tynkkynen. 14 April 2017. Iltalehti. 17 October 2015.
  4. Web site: Votes cast for candidates. Vaalit.fi. Ministry of Justice of Finland.. 14 April 2017.
  5. Web site: Sebastian Tynkkynen on valittu PS-Nuorten puheenjohtajaksi. Finns Party Youth. 14 April 2017.
  6. Web site: Votes cast for candidates. Vaalit.fi. Ministry of Justice of Finland. 14 April 2017.
  7. News: Sebastian Tynkkynen valittiin kolmanneksi varapuheenjohtajaksi. 14 April 2017. Ilta-Sanomat. 8 August 2015.
  8. News: Profile: Sebastian Tynkkynen, rebel in search of a party. 14 April 2017. Yle News. 18 November 2015.
  9. News: Niemitalo. Mirja. Tynkkynen iloitsee ratkaisusta – "Suhteet Soiniin erinomaiset". 14 April 2017. Kaleva. 21 January 2016.
  10. Web site: Perussuomalaisten nuorten uusi puheenjohtaja on Samuli Voutila. 20 November 2016 . Finns Party Youth. 14 April 2017.
  11. 7 November 2018 . Miltä näyttää ensi vuoden hallitus? Sinä päätät! . What will the association board look like next year? You decide! . fi . Rahvas . 4 . 32–34 . 2323-6078 . Perussuomalaiset Nuoret .
  12. News: Hudson. David. Finland LGBTI politician avoids jail but is fined for inciting Islamophobia. 15 April 2017. Gay Star News. 26 January 2017.
  13. Web site: Elected. Vaalit.fi. Ministry of Justice of Finland. 14 April 2017.
  14. Web site: Kansanedustaja Sebastian Tynkkyselle jo toinen tuomio kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan. Yle.fi uutiset. 10 October 2019 . 10 June 2020.
  15. Nurmi, Lauri; Haikonen, Matias: Keskustelu EU:n elvytyspaketista on päättynyt – Tynkkynen puhui yli 8 tuntia, Iltalehti 15 May 2021. Accessed on 15 May 2021.
  16. Web site: Finns Party MP convicted of ethnic agitation | Yle Uutiset. yle.fi. 4 October 2021 . 11 October 2021.
  17. Web site: Vahti . Jukka . Mikä on joulun sanoma, Sebastian Tynkkynen? . Vihreä Lanka . 13 December 2013 . 3 November 2014.
  18. Web site: Asikainen . Hanna. Sebastian Tynkkynen erotettiin Oulun helluntaiseurakunnasta, koska hän haluaa naimisiin miehen kanssa – Professori: "Ihmisoikeusnäkökulmasta voitaisiin katsoa syrjinnäksi" . Yle . 23 November 2018 . Yle uutiset . 21 April 2019 . 23 November 2018.
  19. Web site: Tynkkynen . Sebastian . Being a gay Christian and in relationship with a man? . YouTube . 19 March 2018 . 21 April 2019.