.gif)
National Democrats (Sweden)
Encyclopedia
The National Democrats is a minor political party
in Sweden
, formed by a faction of the Sweden Democrats
in October 2001. The party describes itself as a democratic
nationalist and ethnopluralist
party.
In the 2002 general election
the party received 9,248 votes, far below the 4 percent threshold necessary for parliamentary representation. In the 2006 general election
the party received 3,064 votes (0.06%), however they currently have representation in two municipalities
south of Stockholm
. In the 2010 general election
the party received 1,141 votes (0.02%). The current chairman of the party is Marc Abramsson.
On February 2, 2008, the old party logo consisting of a blue and yellow sail was replaced with an orange cloudberry
flower.
. According to Jimmy Windeskog, a leading member of the party, the "political roots of the party goes back to the social democratic
idea of the Folkhemmet
, so professionally constructed by social democratic politicians like Per Albin Hansson
and Ernst Wigforss
. These people have more in common with ND today than any other party".
A broad outline of the party program:
The party is highly critical of multinational corporation
s such as Shell
and McDonald's
which they label as "imperialist
corporations" who are "exploiting third world
resources [and] contributing to environmental pollution".
In its 2006 general election
manifesto, the party writes: "For years the social democrats
have pursued a pure liberalist
right-wing policy
. They have bent their backs for the global market forces and opened up our country for the large companies to greedily grab. We know that Sweden can perform well in competition with other countries, but then the state needs to side with Swedish workers'."
The party is also highly critical of United States foreign policy and of NATO, which it calls the "military spearheads of the global empire". The party also calls for struggle against what it calls the "imperialist occupations of Serbia, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan
."
Many in the mainstream media have designated the party as xenophobic
and/or racist
the party has publicly rejected these descriptions as a smear.
on November 30 and a march in memory of the bombing of Dresden in World War II
.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, formed by a faction of the Sweden Democrats
Sweden Democrats
The Sweden Democrats is a political party in Sweden, founded in 1988. SD describes itself as a nationalist movement although others use the term far-right. Since 2005, its party chairman is Jimmie Åkesson, while Björn Söder is the party secretary and parliamentary group leader. An Anemone...
in October 2001. The party describes itself as a democratic
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
nationalist and ethnopluralist
Ethnopluralism
Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism is a European New Right theory of multiculturalism which contrasts with liberal multiculturalism."Cultural differentialism" is the view that cultures are clearly bound entities with a specific geographical location...
party.
In the 2002 general election
Swedish general election, 2002
The Swedish general election of 2002 was held on Sunday 15 September to elect the 349 members to the Parliament of Sweden. This election was hels along with other elections in Sweden to the Municipalities and the County Councils. 5,385,430 of the 6,722,152 eligible to vote voted in this election .-...
the party received 9,248 votes, far below the 4 percent threshold necessary for parliamentary representation. In the 2006 general election
Swedish general election, 2006
A general election was held in Sweden on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Swedish parliament. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 "fixed seats" in 29 constituencies and 39 members at a national level for what are called "adjustment seats", used to ensure that parties have...
the party received 3,064 votes (0.06%), however they currently have representation in two municipalities
Municipalities of Sweden
The municipalities of Sweden are the local government entities of Sweden. The current 290 municipalities are organized into 21 counties...
south of Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. In the 2010 general election
Swedish general election, 2010
A general election to the Riksdag, parliament of Sweden, was held on . The main contenders of the election were the governing centre-right coalition the Alliance and the oppositional centre-left Red-Greens coalition A general election to the Riksdag, parliament of Sweden, was held on . The main...
the party received 1,141 votes (0.02%). The current chairman of the party is Marc Abramsson.
On February 2, 2008, the old party logo consisting of a blue and yellow sail was replaced with an orange cloudberry
Cloudberry
Rubus chamaemorus is a rhizomatous herb native to alpine and arctic tundra and boreal forest, producing amber-colored edible fruit similar to the raspberry or blackberry...
flower.
Ideology
The party describes its ideology as nationalist ("national democratic") and ethnopluralistEthnopluralism
Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism is a European New Right theory of multiculturalism which contrasts with liberal multiculturalism."Cultural differentialism" is the view that cultures are clearly bound entities with a specific geographical location...
. According to Jimmy Windeskog, a leading member of the party, the "political roots of the party goes back to the social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
idea of the Folkhemmet
Folkhemmet
Folkhemmet is a political concept that played an important role in the history of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish welfare state. It is also sometimes used to refer to the long period between 1932-76 when the Social democrats were in power and the concept was put into practice...
, so professionally constructed by social democratic politicians like Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson
Per Albin Hansson , was a Swedish politician, chairman of the Social Democrats from 1925 and two-time Prime Minister in four governments between 1932 and 1946, governing all that period save for a short-lived crisis in the summer of 1936, which he ended by forming a coalition government with his...
and Ernst Wigforss
Ernst Wigforss
Ernst Johannes Wigforss was a Swedish politician and linguist , mostly known as a prominent member of the Social Democratic Workers' Party and Swedish Minister of Finance...
. These people have more in common with ND today than any other party".
A broad outline of the party program:
- Defend Sweden by retaining an ethnic Swedish majority.
- Immigration should be brought to a fraction of its current level.
- The culture should be traditionally Swedish and foreign cultural influences should be limited. Thus, the National Democrats advocate a ban on mosques and want to limit public exposure and glorification of "unhealthy artworksDegenerate artDegenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
" and American ghetto culture. - No foreign institutions or companies should be able to own major Swedish media.
- Stop immigration to Sweden of people from outside the Western world.
- Sweden to work for the disbanding of the European Union, which should be replaced by trade and cooperation agreements.
The party is highly critical of multinational corporation
Multinational corporation
A multi national corporation or enterprise , is a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in more than one country. It can also be referred to as an international corporation...
s such as Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
and McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
which they label as "imperialist
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
corporations" who are "exploiting third world
Third World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
resources [and] contributing to environmental pollution".
In its 2006 general election
Swedish general election, 2006
A general election was held in Sweden on 17 September 2006, to elect members to the Swedish parliament. All 349 seats were up for election: 310 "fixed seats" in 29 constituencies and 39 members at a national level for what are called "adjustment seats", used to ensure that parties have...
manifesto, the party writes: "For years the social democrats
Swedish Social Democratic Party
The Swedish Social Democratic Workers' Party, , contesting elections as 'the Workers' Party – the Social Democrats' , or sometimes referred to just as 'the Social Democrats' and most commonly as Sossarna ; is the oldest and largest political party in Sweden. The party was founded in 1889...
have pursued a pure liberalist
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
right-wing policy
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
. They have bent their backs for the global market forces and opened up our country for the large companies to greedily grab. We know that Sweden can perform well in competition with other countries, but then the state needs to side with Swedish workers'."
The party is also highly critical of United States foreign policy and of NATO, which it calls the "military spearheads of the global empire". The party also calls for struggle against what it calls the "imperialist occupations of Serbia, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
."
Many in the mainstream media have designated the party as xenophobic
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
and/or racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
the party has publicly rejected these descriptions as a smear.
Campaigns and political ties
The National Democrats have participated in annual marches honoring King Charles XII of SwedenCharles XII of Sweden
Charles XII also Carl of Sweden, , Latinized to Carolus Rex, Turkish: Demirbaş Şarl, also known as Charles the Habitué was the King of the Swedish Empire from 1697 to 1718...
on November 30 and a march in memory of the bombing of Dresden in World War II
Bombing of Dresden in World War II
The Bombing of Dresden was a military bombing by the British Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force and as part of the Allied forces between 13 February and 15 February 1945 in the Second World War...
.
External links
- Nationaldemokraterna, official website
- Presentation of the party in English