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POLITICS

Left-wingers start ‘internal opposition’ within Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats

A group of Social Democrats have started a left-wing movement within their party to put pressure on its leader, who signed a deal with former opposition rivals in order to govern.

Published: 4 February 2019 09:05 CET
Left-wingers start 'internal opposition' within Sweden's ruling Social Democrats
Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven holds a press conference. Photo: Claudio Bresciani / TT

The group, called the Reformists (Reformisterna) has put forward its own left-wing reform programme in its first annual meeting, held in Stockholm over the weekend.

Its aim is to put pressure on Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven and the party leadership to pursue a more left-wing agenda.

“Our programme and our suggestions are formed from the growing worry and frustration over the widespread inequality in society. And [the fact] that the policies of our party, the Social Democrats, are insufficient to meet society's major challenges,” the group said.

Among its proposals were an increased pension for those with low incomes, higher goals for creation of new homes, a reduction of the working week to 35 hours, and increased capital gains tax.

This would be financed through public and private investments, with around 3,600 billion kronor taken out as a loan, and the remainder and 400 billion covered by the state budget, according to Suhonen.

“We should increase the central government debt at an orderly pace for the necessary investments. Just like when a family takes out a loan to buy a house,” he said.

READ ALSO: First party leader debate reveals Sweden's new divisions

He described the group's agenda as “classic Social Democratic reform policy” and said that he hoped that the party would enter the 2022 election campaign with a manifesto closer to the Reformisterna's proposals than the current government policy.

The party's result in the September 2018 election was its worst in over a century, and the ensuing political deadlock lasted for months until Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven signed an agreement with the Centre and Liberal parties in January.

That deal allowed the party to govern together with the Green Party, in exchange for Centre and Liberal influence on many policies.

But the Reformists was not created as a direct response to the so-called 'January deal', board member Daniel Suhonen told the TT newswire.

“It might look like that, but the main features of this programme were ready back in autumn,” Suhonen said.

He said the new group already had 130 members, including at least two current MPs as well as former ministers and politicians at the municipal level.

FOR MEMBERS: What does Sweden's government deal mean for internationals?

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POLITICS

‘Very little debate’ on consequences of Sweden’s crime and migration clampdown

Sweden’s political leaders are putting the population’s well-being at risk by moving the country in a more authoritarian direction, according to a recent report.

Published: 29 April 2024 08:56 CEST
'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast. 

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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