Two controversies, one involving the left-wing Vänsterpartiet and one involving the Sweden Democrats, have dominated the opening of the decisive phase of Sweden’s election campaign.
DR reports that the final stretch of the campaign began this week, roughly a month before Swedes go to the polls. Several parties presented proposals during the week, from a tightened treatment guarantee and higher gasoline prices to a school reform and a pension bonus for mothers. According to DR, none of those proposals set the agenda.
The first case concerns Vänsterpartiet member of parliament Ilona Szatmári Waldau. As reported by DR, the newspaper Expressen revealed that she had sent a letter of support to a Palestinian imprisoned in Israel, convicted in connection with a terror attack that killed eleven people. Waldau said the letter was a misunderstanding and apologized, stating that she does not support terrorism or violence against civilians.
Party leadership also called the letter a mistake and said antisemitism and the romanticizing of violence are unacceptable. The case has fueled a debate over whether Vänsterpartiet is fit for government. The party has demanded a seat in a future left-wing government instead of remaining a support party for the Social Democrats.
Coalition questions left open
Centerpartiet, a center-right opposition party, has long ruled out serving in a Social Democratic-led government alongside Vänsterpartiet, a position it repeated this week. Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson has declined to address the demand, saying her party is running as an independent party. She has said she is ready to cooperate with all parties except the Sweden Democrats.
DR notes that the distance between the two parties is wide on migration, taxation and economic policy. Andersson called the letter case terrible and criticized Vänsterpartiet leader Nooshi Dadgostar for not having control of her party. Speaking to SVT, she said one slip is possible, but that this had gone too far.
Per Aftonbladet, 25 of the party’s candidates have praised Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, questioned the Holocaust or expressed support for Iran and Russia.
The second case involves Sweden Democrat lawmaker Richard Jomshof, who described Andersson as a quisling, a term for a traitor. He also wrote that his opponents were bowing to Islamists. Andersson called the behavior deeply un-Swedish, while Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the accusations distasteful and indecent.
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Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson urged politicians to avoid violent language, but defended his colleague’s criticism. The three governing parties, Moderaterna, Kristdemokraterna and Liberalerna, have agreed with the Sweden Democrats to form a government together if they win. SVT reported last year that Åkesson publicly apologized for his party having housed people with antisemitic views.
According to the latest voter survey from Statistics Sweden cited by DR, the opposition leads the center-right bloc by 12.7 percentage points. The same survey shows that nearly one in five voters in Sweden has not yet decided. SVT’s voter barometer puts Vänsterpartiet just under one in ten votes.
