Early July 2023

On 5 July 2023, Purra announced the nomination of Wille Rydman as the new Minister of Economic Affairs.^[9] The decision was controversial. Before the nomination MP Rydman had been a member of the Finns Party only for a half a year, representing before that prime minister Petteri Orpo's NCP. Rydman was in 2022 subjected to allegations of sexual misconduct by a number of women from his earlier life. The allegations lead NCP leader Orpo to practically denounce Rydman.^[10]

Rydman's nomination was due to the unexpected resignation of the previous economic affairs minister, Vilhelm Junnila, who stepped down after just ten days in office. Junnila's departure was triggered by a scandal involving his alleged association with far-right groups, leading to a no-confidence motion.^[11] The swift downfall of Junnila created a turbulent political climate, intensifying the scrutiny and attention surrounding Rydman's appointment.^[12]

Middle July 2023

On 10 July, Purra's online comments written in 2008 prior to her political career to Jussi Halla-aho's Scripta blog emerged in the media. In the comments, using the username riikka, she frequently used the word "neekeri" and used otherwise racist and derogatory language such as "mocha dick" and "Turkish monkey" while describing being sexually harassed in public by men of immigrant background.^[13][14] She wrote about a confrontation on a suburban train with a group of young immigrants: "If they gave me a gun, there'd be bodies on a commuter train, you see."^[15][16] On one post she asked if anyone in the "Netsit"^{[lower-alpha 1]} community was up for "spitting on beggars and beating nigger children today in Helsinki?"^[14][17][18] Additionally, she described "the sound darker males make when they pass you by" as "not whistling (that would be too obvious) but a hiss between the teeth," adding, "The more eager Abdullah is, the more saliva comes with it."^[19]

Purra originally refused to confirm whether she was behind the nickname and also said that she had no intention of resigning or regretting her past actions.^[20] However, after the comments were condemned by some representatives from the ruling parties and President Sauli Niinistö had called for the government to adopt a clear zero-tolerance stance on racism, Purra apologized for the comments.^[21] Purra also stated that some of the expressions used were inside humor.^[22]

Soon after, Purra's newer writings from 2019 started to circulate in social media, in which she referred to women in burqa as "unrecognizable black sacks only recognizable as human by the small humans they're usually pulling after themselves" in context of criticizing the clothing practice as dehumanizing. Prime Minister Orpo called an excerpt from the writings unacceptable, but considered that Purra's earlier apology was enough.^[23] Orpo later clarified that he considers the writings to advocate for women's rights.^[24]

By 13 July 2023, all opposition parties had demanded that Speaker of the Parliament Jussi Halla-aho, who belongs to the same party as Purra Riikka, would recall parliament from summer break to hold a vote of confidence in Purra.^[25] On 15 July, Halla-aho responded by stating that the matter was not urgent enough to recall parliament.^[26]

Other statements

Purra also wrote on Scripta that she hoped a 17-year-old girl would take responsibility for being sexually assaulted after fainting from alcohol intoxication, and that it "taught the girl a lesson" as the girl in question was among Romani men.^[33]