Party of the Swedes

Party of the Swedes
Leader Stefan Jacobsson
Founded 22 November 2008
Headquarters Stockholm
Newspaper Realisten
Ideology Swedish nationalism
Neo-Nazism[1][2][3][4]
Political position Far right
Colours Black, yellow
Parliament
0 / 349
European Parliament
0 / 18
Counties
0 / 1,662
Municipalities
0 / 12,978
Website
Svenskarnasparti.se
Politics of Sweden
Political parties
Elections

Party of the Swedes (Swedish: Svenskarnas parti) is a neo-Nazi[1][2][3][4] political party in Sweden. The party describes itself as nationalist and seeks to limit Swedish citizenship to individuals that belong to the "Western genetic and cultural legacy".[5] Since 2013 its party leader has been Stefan Jacobsson.

The Aegishjálmur rune has been the official svp symbol since it originated as Folkfronten ("the people's front"), an neo-Nazi party founded in 2008 by members of the National Socialist Front (NSF), the largest Swedish Nazi party at the time. The current name was introduced in 2009 after socialist activists registered NSF's name with the Election Authority of Sweden, blocking its use.

The party's only electoral succeess was one municipal mandate in 2010 in the small community of Grästorp in Västra Götaland in western Sweden. The mandate was lost after it was revealed that their representative, Daniel Höglund, was not registered as a resident, which is a requirement for members of municipal councils in Sweden. In the Swedish general election, 2014 The party polled 0.07% with 4,189 votes.

History

The party was founded as Folkfronten ("the people's front") in November 2008 by members of the now-defunct National Socialist Front and is chaired by Stefan Jacobsson.[6] The name of the party was changed in 2009 to avoid confusion and loss of votes in the 2010 election. When the party filed an application to the Election Authority of Sweden it became apparent that a newly established socialist group had been registered under the same name only weeks before to block its use.[7]

In the 2010 elections the party received 102 votes (2.8%) in the elections to municipal council in Grästorp, giving them one mandate. According to the anti-racist watchdog magazine Expo, this made them the first National Socialist party to win a seat in a Swedish political assembly since the end of World War II.[8][9] At the second council meeting after the election, the policies for public tenders was to be decided and the initial proposal gave preference to bidders with higher health and safety standards and lower environmental impact. Party of the Swedes representative Daniel Höglund managed to gather support for an additional sentence in the paragraph on the latter, that meant that Swedish labourers and companies should be given preference over foreign bidders, given the potential differences in travel distance. Other representatives later told reporters from the newspaper Expressen that this had appeared innocuous, but when later reflecting upon the consequences they recanted the decision and ensured that his suggestion would not have any influence on tenders.[10]

A prerequisite for a mandate in Swedish municipal councils is residence in that municipality. After a few weeks and after the official records were reviewed, it was revealed that Höglund was registered as living in the neighbouring municipality and he was deprived of his seat. Höglund was the only name on the printed ballot. Small parties often let their ballot remain unlocked, meaning that voters can add additional candidates to the ballot themselves. On one of the ballots someone had written the name of another party member, Krister Johansson. He declined to fill the seat and consequently the party was unable to fill its seat in the council for the rest of the term. According to Höglund, Johansson's unwillingness to sit was motivated by fear of losing his job; the largest customer of the company that Johansson worked at had said that they would cease buying their services if they had an employee representing a racist party in an elected assembly.[11]

Though receiving no votes at all, the party gained another seat in Nykvarn Municipality, when an independent member joined the Party of the Swedes. The councilman was originally elected for the National Democrats, who received two members in the election of 2010.[12] The party gained a third councilman in the Mönsterås municipal council when a former representative for the Sweden Democrats joined the party. Two Sweden Democrats defected to the party in Hedemora city council, though one of them soon left the Party of the Swedes as well, reducing the number of active representatives to three. The only elected seat, in Grästorp, has remained unfilled.[13][14] Following the general election in 2014 the party lost its only seat in the municipal council in Grästorp.[15]

Ideology

The party describes its ideology as nationalism with a belief in the importance of genetic inheritance. The political program includes the following points (translated from Swedish):[16]

  1. Sweden should also in the future be Swedish: Only people who belong to the western genetic and cultural heritage, where ethnic Swedes are included, should be Swedish citizens.
  2. Sweden shall be governed by the Swedes: Non-Swedes should not be allowed to hold positions of power in Swedish society.
  3. Sweden shall be governed for the Swedes: All policy decisions should be based on what is best for the interests of ethnic Swedes.
  4. Sweden shall be governed as effectively as possible: The state apparatus should be headed by a modern system of government that benefits Swedes as efficiently as possible. The form of the government must be based on competence and responsibility, and its mission is to serve the people, not vice versa. The government's motto should be improvement, development and what's best for all of the people.
  5. Sweden should have actual self-government: Collaborations with other countries shall be gladly carried out, but no agreement stating that a supranational government will be accepted.
  6. Sweden shall be a safe country to live in: Security, both individual and economic, should be one of the society's foundations.
  7. Freedom of expression: All issues should be open for discussion in Sweden, scholar should be free, and restrictions privacy through governmental surveillance of non-criminal citizens should not be allowed.
  8. Swedish resources should be owned by the Swedish people: Major Swedish natural resources and public utilities should be owned by the Swedish people meaning that all profits from such business returns to the population and not to foreign or private interests.
  9. Community cohesion and social justice should permeate society: Class fragmentation should be replaced by class community whereby all of the peoples' creative and productive efforts are highly valued and no social group is allowed to advance at the expense of any other.
  10. Sweden should have strong environmental and animal welfare goals: Sweden has a unique natural environment that is worth protecting and preserving. The food industry and other industries dealing with livestock must be ethically sound and sustainable.

Party leaders

Electoral results

Parliament (Riksdag)

Election year # of overall votes % of overall vote # of overall seats won +/- Notes
2010 681 0.01
0 / 349
2014 4,189 0.07
0 / 349
 Steady 0

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lövestadsbo tar över extremparti - Sjöbo - Skånskan.se". Skanskan.se. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Expo: "Nazister som bytt skepnad" - Sjöbo - Skånskan.se". Skanskan.se. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Nazistläger gick lugnt till - Sydsvenskan". Sydsvenskan.se. 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Tema: Svenskarnas Parti". Expo.se. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  5. ↑ "Punktprogram | Svenskarnas parti". Svenskarnasparti.se. 2011-06-15. Retrieved 2011-07-07. Swedish: "Endast människor som tillhör det västerländska genetiska och kulturella arvet."
  6. ↑ "at". Den-svenske.com. 2008-11-25. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  7. ↑ "Revolutionära Fronten". Revfront.org. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  8. ↑ Alexander Bengtsson Anders Dalsbro (2010-09-20). "EXTRA: Nazistparti tar kommunalt mandat". Expo.se. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ "Så lurade nazist hela fullmäktige | GT". Gt.expressen.se. 2010-11-27. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  11. ↑ "Svenskarnas parti lämnar Grästorp - Nyheter P4 Skaraborg | Sveriges Radio". Sverigesradio.se. 2004-12-26. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
  12. ↑ "Nazisterna får mandat i Nykvarns kommun | Nyheter | Expressen". Expressen.se. 2012-03-30. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  13. ↑ "Politik - Senaste inrikespolitiska nyheterna". DN.se. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  14. ↑ "Svenskarnas parti får mandat i kommunerna | Anna-Lena Lodenius". Al-lodenius.com. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  15. ↑ "Grästorp - Valda - Val 2014". Val.se. 2014-09-23. Retrieved 2015-03-18.
  16. ↑ "Punktprogram | Svenskarnas parti". Svenskarnasparti.se. Retrieved 2015-03-18.

External links