Wrong way to stop Sweden democrats

The liberal party Folkpartiet Liberalerna announced today that they want to ban face veils such as niqabs or burquas in Swedish schools.

The argument is that it should be easier to see and communicate with each other and that teachers are suppose to see that they are grading the right pupil.

First I am not going to discuss the issue itself. What strikes me more is the timing of the announcement.

In September its election. It comes at a time where the extreme right-wing party The Sweden democrats have shown risng numbers in the polls. They are close to making the four percent limit line of votes which is required to get seates in the Swedish parliament. This is of course a way to try to bloc them from getting votes, but in my opinion its note the right way to handle this problem.

One should discuss the integration question in large instead of throwing out populist proposals just before the election. By doing like Folkpartiet we are pushing the limits for what is acceptable in society and I believe that unfortunately benefits the Sweden democrats in the long run. The next proposal to blocing the Sweden democrats from the Swedish parliament might be more extreme, the next even more extreme. And so it might continue election after election, which would of course be a dangerous development. I want real discussion about integration, then the Sweden democrats will show their true face and also lose votes. That is my conviction.


This comes not long after the decision in France where as i understand it, no one can no longer wear face weils in public, which I must say is frightening. Of course you must be ablo wear what you want when youre walking on the street!

What is interresting about this subject in general is that it shows one of the fundamental issues within democracy which has to be discussed on a regular basis: When different values which can all be attributed to democracy are clashing.

Take this latest proposal from Folkpartiet. One might argue one must be able to coomunicate in a democracy, especially in a vital institution such as the school. Also, one might claim religion should not be "visible" in the secular "neutral" school. On the other hand you can claim it is violating one´s freedom of religious beliefs. We MUST discuss this and get a intelligent and civilised debate. Otherwise The sweden democrats can continue to blame all society´s ills on immigrants.

Sweden as republic

Normally I blog about music as "the drumming cat", but from now on I will also try to blog about politics, society etc. This is not a blog with a clear poltical colour, so wether your left or right, please comment and share your own thougts.

Thought a good first topic would be to discuss the political system in Sweden. As you might know Sweden still have a monarchy. May be without "real power" to make decisions, but it is still a situation where someone who is representing Sweden inherits his/her position which is in my mind most un-democratic.

As a republican I have tried to debate Swedens form of government on different internet forums. What strikes me most is that the royalistics defence for monarchy is that he is a symbol for Sweden and its people. In my mind the monarchy represents that it is ok to inherrit power in a democratic country. When a family in the constitution is guaranteed money from the state and the position as king/queen from generation to generation, that is power... And clearly, if the king represents Sweden on his journeys abroad, shouldnt I have right to decide who that person is?

Stating that someone is suppose to represent the entire country requires a democratic election. This system doesnt represent me as a Swede, why should I just have to accept the situation and not be able to vote for another candidate if I dont feel this person represents me?

After the wedding which I didn´t like at all I immediattelly joined Sweden´s republican association to hopefully put the last non-democratic institution in Sweden in the history books.

/The cat goes political

/The Cat goes political