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Politics

Centre Party rocked by anti-immigration op-ed

Published: 11 Jan 13 17:18 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/45568/20130111/

A local chapter of the beleaguered Centre Party has demanded that party leadership scrap the new proposal on open borders, in an op-ed that warns “Sweden will be overrun by illiterate clans”.

Members of the party in the tiny town of Färgelanda in southwestern Sweden used an opinion article in the local Bohuslänningen newspaper to voice their frustration over a Centre Party proposal that Sweden allow free immigration.

“If these ideas are adopted as party policy, Sweden will be overrun by illiterate clans who don’t have jobs[...] and deal with inheritance disputes with Kalashnikovs,” they wrote.

The op-ed, which called the proposal "crazy", has caused such a stir that the regional head for the Centre Party youth wing said its authors should be excluded from the party, reports Sveriges Radio (SR).

Centre Party MP Frederick Federley joined the choir of angry voices.

“They've written very harmful things about immigrants, and the wording is unacceptable in the Centre Party,” Federley told the TT news agency.

”I was appalled. It’s worse than a lot of things I’ve heard Sweden Democrats utter.”

Federley also thinks the party should consider kicking out the op-ed writers.

The piece was signed by 15 Centre Party members who either belong to the local chapter (Färgelanda Center) or the party’s local women’s association (Centerkvinnor).

At least one of them holds elected office at municipal level as substitute representative on the local council.

They write that many local members have not paid their party membership fee this year, as they are waiting to see what happens with the proposed party platform.

Centre Party headquarters intends to contact the members in question, confirmed Anna-Karin Nyman, press secretary for leader Annie Lööf.

She told TT that Centre Party leaders partly want to understand why the op-ed was written in such a way, and partly to explain that the choice of words is not appropriate.

She said it was possible to exclude members.

“But it’s a long process,” Nyman told TT.

It also seems the op-ed writers had not checked in with all their party colleagues in the immediate vicinity.

Thor-Björn Jakobsson, vice chair of the municipal chapter, was unaware of the article and reacted with shock when contacted by regional Göteborgs-Posten (GP) for a comment and had to read him the op-ed.

”Heavens,” he told GP.

”I hadn’t noticed these tendencies before, we’ll have to deal with this in some way."

The developments come a day after Lööf faced criticism for statements regarding her stance on polygamy, which would be legalized in Sweden according to a draft proposal drawn up by the party ahead of its February 5th congress.

The radical set of ideas, which also calls for an end to compulsory schooling, have been the subject of heated debate within the party for weeks, in what some claim shows a rift between a neo-liberal "Stockholm Centre" and "the classic, core voters in rural areas".

"If the Centre Party is to continue to have a say in Swedish politics, the proposal must be amended. This will not do. It could harm us in the next election," Per-Ingvar Johnsson, a member of parliament from Åhus in Skåne, told regional broadsheet Sydsvenskan in December.

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18:44 January 11, 2013 by Eric1
Lots of people are appalled! shocked! etc.... but I haven't heard anyone say what he said was untrue.
19:34 January 11, 2013 by thecritic
There is always room for those of you who still have a brain in the SD party...why follow the lunatic traitors while you can lead your own nation? Why share your country with the illiterate clans, while you can have it mostly for yourself? Why paying taxes that mostly benefit the that hate you and want to destroy your society? Oh there are so many whys if you brainless come to your senses, but i doubt that some of you ever will! Braindead people!
21:07 January 11, 2013 by Rishonim
Most people tend to underestimate the virtues and education level of immigrants in this society. Though I must admit that he is right that they will not have jobs. Not because they are unqualified but simple because their names are rather different; regardless if they were born here and speak fluent Swedish. Actually many of the immigrants I have encountered are equal or even better academically educated than some Svenzzon's.
21:55 January 11, 2013 by johan rebel
Funny how it always comes as a complete shock to the ruling elite when somebody dares state the glaringly obvious out loud.

Any four-year old understands that if Sweden were to become the only country in the world that allows unrestricted immigration the destitute, illiterate, sick, disabled, and unemployed would come flocking in droves looking for a better life.
01:29 January 12, 2013 by Enjoyourlife
Open your boarders like Canada and literate people would come it. And the advantage is that very few literate people would live on benefit. Opening your doors to people who are not even productive in the own country is crazy. They changed their names and ask for asylum. Most do not like to study with fake names. Why shold they work or waste some years to study when there is a sweet-juicy benefit. Something they have never experienced in the homeland. A person on benefit here is richer than an average civil servant in developing countries. And almost all are from there.
01:32 January 12, 2013 by Children Of Adam
Of course he talked shiit about immigrants, as an immigrant myself when I came to Sweden I had to study Swedish and do a practical job for two years, I was doing a job for schools for free and my colleagues were getting paid over 30000kr for the same job, The Sweden has used me for two years until i got my visa and immediately started my own company and got job in private company, now my tax can support a few families.

See these type of talks hurts those immigrants who are own their own and pay taxes, rules of talk is to not include all, use the word " a few" .

By the way , it is Sweden who export the highest level of explosive and guns to other countries where people are dying by these swedish made weapons.
05:38 January 12, 2013 by thecritic
When the word "immigrants" is use in europe, i believe they meant to apply to a specific group of people, not everybody. Specifically, it meant for muslims, blacks and some eastern europeans, because they are the main subjects for immigration debate in any country of europe now. They are not talking about canadian or americans or chinese do they? However, the liberals using the word "immigrants" as a whole so they can demonize the right wings and to legistimize their agenda, and the right wings can not seperate the word "immigrants" because it's a delicate matter and for being afraid of label racists. Ok, let's pick a country shall we? England, south asians, blacks. France, north africans and subsahara. Germany, turks, eastern europeans. Belgium, muslims. The nederlands, muslims. Denmark, muslims. sweden, norway, swit, austria, italy, greece all muslims...see the point?
13:20 January 12, 2013 by RobinHood
Would anyone like to hazard a guess what percentage of the populations of Afghanistan, Congo, Niger, Syria, Haiti,Eritrea, Somalia, and whatever other hell hole is, or will be in crisis, would move to Sweden if they could?

It's a noble idea to offer sanctuary to the entire world's poor, sick, endangered and repressed but (1) how can Sweden's tiny population possibly pay for them all?, and (2) is it a good idea to drain certain countries, and even one particular continent, of their entire populations?

The poor Centre Party is about to implode under the weight of this nonsense. rank and file membership think its leadership has gone completely and are abandoning the party in their droves.

Get a grip Annie, but I suspect it's too late for you and the party.
13:52 January 12, 2013 by cogito
Some might say that the Centre Party is an illiterate clan.
16:12 January 12, 2013 by för30årseden
So the Center Party wouldn't exclude Jihadists who find traditional Swedish culture immoral and would put Annie Lööf in a burka, but they would exclude people who don't toe the party line.

In fact, the Center Party (and most modern Swedish politicians) would probably find the political views of their own grandfathers unacceptable.

It's Orwellian.
23:33 January 15, 2013 by jostein
As rethorics go, this article by Färglanda centern in Bohuslänningen was a masterpiece. Cleverly they let sillier people like the party leadership and thelocals reporter expose their own bigotry and prejudice.

The article lists points against all the controversial points in the proposed new partyprogram (or whatever the party-leadership-document is called). Namely, new inheritence laws, abolished duty to go to school, allow polygamy, free immigration. Then it has a paragraph with the punchline that bigots think speak of immigration but is really just a reeteration of the critique:

If the program is accepted sweden will become overpopulated(immigration-critique) by illiterate(school-duty-abolishment critique) overlarge families(polygamy critique) that lacking work (industrial critique) .... solve inheritence disputes with kalasjnikovs (changed inheritencelaw critique).

Briliant! The party leadership react with predictable hysteria. AND expose their own prejudices. Personally i think quite a bit of the suggest program (or whatever) is rather interesting, like getting the state out of marriage. But thats not the point. Its just a joy to see fools (party leadership, the press) outmanouvered by thoughtfull and clever people.
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