“You let security slip away.” Jimmie Åkesson aimed that line at the Social Democrats’ former ministers on 24 June in his Almedalen speech, a few months before the Swedish election.
Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, named two of them: Morgan Johansson and Peter Hultqvist. In his telling, they wrecked what earlier generations had built and turned safe communities into “war zones”. He spent a large part of the address on the attack, according to the TT news agency, and he also listed what he sees as gains from four years in which his party has had strong influence over crime, migration and economic policy: falling crime, a stronger economy and more money in household budgets. He wants the strict migration line and tougher treatment of crime to continue.
He was frank about the polls. “We have an uphill climb in voter opinion,” he said. “To say anything else would be to lie.”
The citizen veto
The centrepiece was housing. Åkesson accused the Social Democrats of wanting to build rental apartments in villa areas and then move in people from immigrant-dense problem districts. His party calls this “forced mixing”, a term coined by the Tidö parties for the Social Democrats’ new integration policy. The Social Democrats say that is a misreading and that none of their proposals is compulsory.
At a press conference earlier in the day, SVT reported, Åkesson presented the party’s answer: a “citizen veto against forced mixing”. Residents could stop construction that “changes the character of the area” if more than 25 percent of them were opposed. He called the issue the “biggest, most important and clearest conflict” of the autumn election.
In the speech he turned directly to the Social Democrat leader. “Magdalena Andersson: we are acting to stop your forced mixing,” he said. If the Sweden Democrats win, he promised Swedish house and villa owners the party would do everything in its power to bring in the veto. A municipality could only proceed with a project if a qualified majority of the affected neighbours agreed. “If 25 percent of those living in the area say no, there will be no construction,” he said.
The reply
Social Democrat party secretary Tobias Baudin was dismissive. “I understand that Jimmie Åkesson is desperate. He is also unserious, he has himself been part of governing Sweden for four years and the results are not exactly flattering,” Baudin said.
Sources
- Akessons attack pa S: Ni lat tryggheten ga forlorad (TT, via TV4)
- SD-forslaget: Villaagare ska kunna stoppa nya hyresratter med "medborgarveto" (SVT Nyheter, live feed)
