Sweden Democrats Totally Explained

Everything about Sweden Democrats totally explained

Sweden Democrats (Sverigedemokraterna, SD), founded in 1988 by Leif Zeilon, is a Swedish right-wing political party. The party describes itself as a nationalist movement that opposes all forms of racism. Notable observers describe the Sweden Democrats as anti-immigrant and xenophobic, including CNN, the BBC, The Local, the Swedish Security Police, the Expo Foundation, the Centre for the Study of European Politics and Society and the Stephen Roth Institute.
   Although the party has never received widespread support, the number of votes for it has increased with each election. It is the most popular far-right political party in Sweden, having received 2.9% of the vote in the 2006 general elections. Nevertheless, according to an April 2006 survey, 67% of the electorate actively dislikes the Sweden Democrats. However, in a recent survey made by Demoskop, the Sweden Democrats would beat the 4 % vote limit to enter the Riksdag with 4,2 % of the votes.
   As of early 2008 the party claims about 3,000 members. There are thirteen district party associations in Sweden for the SD, as well as around one hundred local or municipal associations. Young members are organised in the youth league, Sweden Democrat Youth. The current version of the youth league was founded in 1998. The party also distributes a newspaper to its members, SD-Kuriren. Since 2005 the paper has been printed in tabloid format, and approximately 28,000 copies have been published.
   The Sweden Democrats have complained about difficulties buying advertising space due to the media using the right to choose whom they permit to advertise. However, on June 16, 2006, Dagens Nyheter and Svenska Dagbladet decided to stop their boycott. Expressen still retains the ban on Sweden Democrat advertising. The Sweden Democrats often claim to be the victims of a conspiracy with the intent of deceiving the Swedish people and making sure they can't be heard.

Political history

The party has its origins in the movement Bevara Sverige Svenskt ("Preserve Sweden Swedish").

The 2002 election campaign

The Sweden Democrats regarded their results in the 2002 Swedish general elections as a success. The party focused its campaign on its pledges to restrict immigration and build a culturally homogenous Sweden. Party officials stressed during the campaign that the Sweden Democrats is a democratic party that opposes all forms of xenophobia and racism. However, despite this official image, party members were accused of exactly such views by journalists and representatives of other political parties. Also, party officials were attacked by individual thugs, and the party's meetings were disturbed by demonstrations by left-wing groups such as Anti-Fascist Action and the Young Left.

The 2006 election campaign

The Sweden Democrats again failed to gain representation in Sweden's national parliament, the Riksdag, in the 2006 general elections. However, they significantly increased their support by receiving 2.9% support at the national level and gaining representation in a majority of the nation's municipalities. In the municipality of Landskrona, 22% voted for the Sweden Democrats.

The Mohammed cartoon debate

After the Danish paper Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons depicting Mohammed and ignited the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy during the fall and winter of 2005, the party gave its unreserved support to the publication with reference to the freedom of speech. The party stated that it saw no reason why a Danish newspaper should be forced to abide by Muslim rules and prohibitions regarding expression. When the boycott of Danish products was launched in the Middle East, the Sweden Democrats launched a "Buy Danish" campaign in support of Danish workers. In 2006 the party entered the Mohammed cartoon debate by publishing a Mohammed-depicting cartoon on its youth league and SD-Kuriren websites. The cartoon showed Mohammed from behind holding a mirror in front of his face. However, instead of any facial features, the mirror showed only a blank head. The cartoon was captioned "Mohammed's Face" (Muhammeds ansikte in Swedish).
   The publication attracted the attention of the Swedish government. The government informed internet service provider Levonline about the party's publications. Subsequently, Levonline shut down the party’s web page. The government and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laila Freivalds, denied any direct interference. However, at the same time Laila Freivalds condemned the publication as a provocation. Freivalds then resigned as Minister after being accused of interference with press freedom, and lying about such actions.
   This event spurred debate on government censorship in Sweden. The party also had a hate speech charge filed against them due to the posted caricature. Similar hate speech charges were filed against other Swedish publishers who depicted Mohammed.
   The party originally planned to publish a set of cartoons in the party newspaper, SD-Kuriren. However, after the controversy erupted, party leader Jimmie Åkesson issued a statement on the party's website on 9 February 2006, stating that it would refrain from further publications online and in print, due to concerns that it might spur hostile actions against Swedes and Swedish interests.
   The shutdown of the party's websites was reported to Konstitutionsutskottet by the Liberal People's Party leader Lars Leijonborg. The party filed charges against the Security Police and the Department of State with the Swedish Justitiekansler and Justitieombudsman, alleging that the government's interference was unconstitutional. The spokesperson of the Swedish Green Party Peter Eriksson also expressed concern over possible government involvement in the event.

Ideology

The Sweden Democrats' party programme is based on "ethno-nationalism": (Bakgrund: Bakom den demokratiska fasaden, Expo nr 3 - 1997)

During the Swedish general elections in 1991 and 1994 the party had candidates in Hedemora, Malmö, Mölndal, Sigtuna, and Stockholm who had previously been active in Nazi organisations.

In 2002, second vice-chairman Torbjörn Kastell stated in a Dagens Nyheter interview that, as a way to counter the multicultural policies pursued by the main parties, he advocated a policy that would ban mosques, prohibit the wearing of traditional Muslim clothing in public spaces, and end the serving of special food in public schools. However, he stressed that he found it unfair that these kinds of ideas were viewed as xenophobic and racist. He felt that the policies were merely ways to assimilate immigrants into Swedish society.

According to the representatives of Miljöpartiet and Liberal People's Party, two SD members holding seats in Trollhättan made several anti-Islamic remarks during a debate.

On 22 March 2003, the SD candidate in Helsingborg was arrested by the police when he, together with several known Nazis (including the local leader of Nationalsocialistisk Front) attacked an anti-racist demonstration.

For the 2004 election to the European Parliament, the party received 200,000 SEK from the Belgian anti-Semite Bernard Mengal.

Party secretary Tommy Funebo left the party in 2004 and publicly described the party as being infested by Nazis, only differing from them for tactical reasons. Being without a party program, he stated, they're only united in their hatred towards foreigners. The party leader at the time, Mikael Jansson, reacted by calling Funebo a destructive liar.

In 2004, party chairman Mikael Jansson defended the so called "bergsjö letter" sent out by the SD in Gothenburg. In the letter, SD Gothenburg said they wanted to use party money to help "Swedes and fraternal peoples moving from areas with many immigrants." They also wanted "Bergsjön to be divided into one multicultural part and one pure part, awaiting assimilation or repatriation of the foreign."

At the SD's national meeting in 2004, several Gothenburg members had a background in the neo-Nazi National Democrats (Sweden). The head of the election committee also had a prominent position in the Nordic Reich Party. He was asked to resign, but refused and was later expelled.

The Sweden Democrats' response to the controversy

The party tries in the public discourse to dissociate itself from all forms of totalitarianism and racism (for example, Nazism), and states that it considers the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights a fundamental component of its politics. Furthermore, the party says that its fundamental goal is to combine the principle of social and economic justice with traditional conservative values. For this reason, the party believes that it isn't easily pinpointed on the traditional left-right political spectrum in Swedish politics.

Election results

The party has never received widespread support, but it has recently seen its electoral support increase somewhat, receiving 2.9% of the votes in the September 2006 general elections. At the local level, the party is represented in a majority of the Swedish municipalities.
   In the 1988 Swedish general elections, the party received 1,118 votes. At the municipal level, the party failed to gain seats in any municipality.
   In the 1991 Swedish general elections, the party received two local mandates (that is, two representatives in the municipal assembly), one in Dals-Ed and one in Höör.
   In the 1994 Swedish general elections, the party received 13,954 votes. It received a total of five local mandates, two in Höör, two in Dals-Ed, and one in Ekerö.
   In the 1998 Swedish general elections, the party received 19,624 votes (0.37% of the total number of votes cast). It received a total of eight local mandates, two in Höör, two in Trollhättan, two in Haninge, one in Sölvesborg, and one in Dals-Ed.
   In the Swedish elections for the European Parliament in 1999, the party received 8,568 votes (0.33% of the total number of votes cast).
   In the 2001 elections to the Church Assembly, the party received 0.8% of the total number of votes cast and gained two mandates in the Church Assembly (Kyrkomötet).
    In the 2002 Swedish general elections, the party received 76,300 votes (1.44% of the total number of votes cast), making it the largest party without representation in the Swedish Parliament. At the municipal level, the party presented candidates in 79 Swedish municipalities. In 29 municipalities the party gained a total of 63 local seats.
   In the Swedish elections for the European Parliament in 2004, the party received 27,707 votes (1.13% of the total number of votes cast).
   In the 2005 elections to the Church Assembly, the party received 1.7% of the total number of votes cast.
   In the 2006 Swedish general election the Sweden Democrats went forward strongly, gaining 2.9% of the votes and thus ensuring governmental financial support for the next four years. The party is thus 1.1 percentage points from achieving representation in the national parliament, the Riksdag, and it has also strengthened its positions in various local assemblies, particularly in southern Sweden. In the city of Landskrona the party received 22,3% of the electoral votes and is thus the third largest party in the city council. The party gained a total of 286 local seats in 145 Swedish municipalities.

Party leaders

Anders Klarström (1992–1995)

Mikael Jansson (1995–2005)

Jimmie Åkesson (2005–present)

Other prominent party members

Sten Andersson

Sven-Olle Olsson (deceased)Further Information

Get more info on 'Sweden Democrats'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://sweden_democrats.totallyexplained.com">Sweden Democrats Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.