Jussi Halla-aho, an MP for the populist True Finns party, wrote on social networking website Facebook on Wednesday that the Greek government should use military force against workers on strike.
“What Greece needs at this particular point in time is a military junta that would not have to worry about its popularity and could use tanks to enforce some order among strikers and rioters,” Halla-aho wrote.
The Facebook entry soon sparked outrage, with Halla-aho removing it and retracting his comment.
“Most people probably got the message, but as it was easy to hang on to, its publication was poor judgement, and that is why I have removed it,” Halla-aho explained.
He added that what he had meant to say was that it was difficult to carry out unpopular policies in a democracy. Halla-aho’s Facebook comment caused a stir in Parliament. Halla-aho is the chairman of the parliamentary administration committee.