Sami Parliament of Sweden
Encyclopedia
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and Sámediggi in Northern Sami
Northern Sami
Northern or North Sami is the most widely spoken of all Sami languages. The speaking area of Northern Sami covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland...
) is the representative body for people of Sami
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
heritage 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....
. It acts as an institution of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sami people
Sami people
The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...
.
History
The Sami Parliament Act, Sametingslag (1992:1433), established the Swedish Sami Parliament as of 1 January 1993. By law, the first official elections were held on 16 May 1993. Its first session was opened by the King of Sweden, Carl XVI GustafCarl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
Carl XVI Gustaf is the reigning King of Sweden since 15 September 1973, succeeding his grandfather King Gustaf VI Adolf because his father had predeceased him...
, on 26 August 1993 in Kiruna
Kiruna
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Kiruna Municipality Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron, Finnish: Kiiruna) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is...
. It has 31 representatives, who are elected every four years by general vote. The current Chairperson of the Sami Parliament is Stefan Mikaelsson since 2009. The chairperson is formally assigned by the Swedish Government upon the proposal of the Sami Parliament.
Responsibilities
Sweden has taken this active part for two reasons:- to recognise the Sami minority as an indigenous peopleIndigenous peoplesIndigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
to distinguish it from other minorities; - to raise the Sami minority influenceMinority influenceMinority influence, a form of social influence, takes place when a minority, like an individual, influences a majority to accept the minority's beliefs or behaviour. There are two types of social influence: majority influence and minority influence...
which comes into conflict with the European majority democracy system, i.e., the group with the most votes wins.
Voting system
Sami Parliaments are democratically elected and act as autonomous authorities. In each country, Sami inhabitants have a vote, in addition to the regular elections in each country, to elect representatives to their Sami Parliament if:- s/he considers himself/herself to be culturally or ethnically Sami, and
- s/he speaks a Sami language, or
- s/he had or has a parent, or grandparent, that speaks or spoke a Sami language
See also
- List of Chairpersons of the Sami Parliament of Sweden
- Sámi politicsSámi politicsSámi politics refers to politics that concern the indigenous Sámi people in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. In a more narrow sense, it has come to indicate the government of Sámi affairs by Sámi political institutions...
- Sami Parliament of FinlandSami Parliament of FinlandThe Sami Parliament of Finland is the representative body for people of Sami heritage in Finland. The parliament consists of 21 elected mandates...
- Sami Parliament of NorwaySami Parliament of NorwayThe Sami Parliament of Norway is the representative body for people of Sami heritage in Norway. It acts as an institution of cultural autonomy for the indigenous Sami people....