Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

SWEDEN DEMOCRATS

Sweden Democrats lose Malmö seat

The Sweden Democrats have lost a seat on Malmö municipal council following a decision by one of their councillors to sit as an independent, refusing to accede to the party's wishes for him to resign.

Published: 14 November 2011 08:30 CET

The party recently lost a Riksdag seat after a similar decision by William Petzäll, and Malmö councillor Cay Elané has now joined the growing list of party rebels.

According to Magnus Olsson of the Sweden Democrats, Elané has been guilty of a slew of “offences”, and the party finally tired of their representative on Friday, the local Sydsvenskan daily reported.

“Among other things, he has neglected his duties as a lay assessor in the district court. It was serious stuff,” Olsson told the paper.

But Elané told the paper that he was shocked at the party’s decision to demand his resignation.

“I have not neglected my duties. The things he brought up with me concern my personal life. You could say that I went partying one Saturday and it was brought to his attention,” he told Sydsvenskan.

“If one is 52 years-old, then you have the right to party on a Saturday.”

Elané will now join his former Sweden Democrat colleague Christer Voigt as independents sitting on the Malmö council. Voigt left the party in the spring.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

Sweden Democrat leader calls for ‘reevaluation’ of Swedish EU membership

The leader of the Sweden Democrats reawakened the spectre of Swexit – Sweden leaving the European Union – on Tuesday penning a debate article which called for a reevaluation of membership.

Published: 2 May 2023 15:36 CEST
Sweden Democrat leader calls for 'reevaluation' of Swedish EU membership

“With ever increasing instances of far-reaching gesture politics, EU membership is starting to become dangerous like a straitjacket which we have no choice but to simply accept and adapt to,” Åkesson wrote in an opinion piece in the Aftonbladet newspaper. 

“This means that German, Polish or French politicians can in practice decide over which car you are going to be allowed to buy, how expensive your petrol should be, or which tree you should be allowed to cut down on your own land.” 

As a result, he said there are “good reasons to properly reevaluate our membership of the union”.  

In the run-up to the UK’s Brexit referendum in 2016, the Sweden Democrats called frequently for Sweden to follow the British example and hold a renegotiation of its relationship with the EU followed by an in-out referendum. 

But in 2019, as the UK struggled to negotiate a satisfactory departure agreement, Åkesson changed his position saying that he now hoped to change the European Union from within. 

In his article on Tuesday, Åkesson said that power was continually being ceded from Sweden to Brussels. 

“The more that happens, the more the will of the people as reflected in parliamentary results is going to be less and less relevant,” her said. “Our Swedish elections are going to soon become irrelevant to Sweden’s development, and of course, we can’t let that happen.”

SHOW COMMENTS