Notes about an Islamist party in Sweden
Screenshot via Dagens Nyheter.
During the 2022 general elections in Sweden, I wrote about some political parties outside the Swedish parliament. One of the parties I wrote about is Nyans (Shade):
One party that is also making headlines at the moment is Shade (Nyans), with Islamist rhetoric and demands for special rights for Muslims in Sweden. The party is not able to enter the parliament, but there is research showing that some voters around Sweden are considering voting for the party or having it as a second or third alternative at local elections as in Malmoe.
In one of the articles via the daily social-liberal Dagens Nyheter (Today’s News) paper that I read in 2022, several individuals who voted for Nyans were interviewed and stated the following reaSweden's voting for the party:
- Sweden's handling of the Danish far-right extremist and “Quran burner” Rasmus Paludan.
- They understand us immigrants
- They are a party for the voices of Muslims
- There are extremists in all parties
One of the main reasons Nyans was more presented and highlighted in several media papers is the party’s rhetoric and proposals regarding Islam, Muslims, and identity politics. Another reason was that the party was able to get votes in areas described as “classical” social-democratic districts.
For example, in the 2018 election, the electoral district Herrgaorden in Rosengaor in Malmoe was the Social Democrats' “strongest stronghold” in the country. The party received 79% of the votes in the parliamentary and 77% in the municipal elections. Nyans became the second-largest party in the same area four years later, with 28.9%.
Despite successes in certain suburban districts, the 2022 election was still a failure for Nyans. The party aimed for the parliament but was never close since the party only received around 15,000 votes.
Nyans also failed to enter any of the major city councils. However, according to preliminary figures, it was a close call in Malmoe where Nyans received 5,469 votes, just below the three percent threshold.
In the municipal election in Gothenburg, Nyans received just over 5,000 votes, which means 1.5% of the votes. In the Stockholm city, "other parties," category including Nyans, received 3% of the votes.
The only municipality in Sweden, meaning in 1 of 290 municipalities, where Nyans has two mandates is in the local assembly in Botkyrka in the Stockholm region. Botkyrka has a large number of residents with a history of Immigration and Muslim identification. Still, the majority of residents with such identification voted for the other political parties, including conservative ones. One of the reasons for Nyans failures and very bad results is due to internal problems and conflicts.
During the election campaign, several media outlets exposed scandals in Nyans. Swedish public radio Sveriges Radio revealed that the Nyans leader was convicted of a minor assault in Turkey. At the same time, the daily liberal Sydsvenskan (South Swedish) disclosed that several of the party's representatives had spread hatred against Jews and Shia Muslims.
Nyans is also seen as a "Turkey-friendly party" and is criticised for supporting President Erdogan's authoritarian regime. The Nyans party claims to want to stand beyond left and right and has recruited representatives from Moderate Party, Left Party, Social Democrats, and Centre Party. Some of the party’s proposals during the recent elections were:
Muslims should be recognized as a national Swedish minority group. Afro-Swedes should also receive the status of a national minority group.
Islamophobia should become its category of crime. Afro-phobia and anti-Semitism should also become separate crime categories.
Establish a new housing authority to ensure more rental properties are built. Municipal and state-owned companies should manage these without profit interests.
Combat market rents. Freeze the rents for municipal-employer-owned rental properties for the next 5 years.
Abolish the employer's fee for companies in the restaurant industry with fewer than 10 employees – and halve the VAT.
Make it difficult or prohibit Swedish companies from operating on occupied Palestinian land.
In my opinion, Nyans is a very small party at the moment, and its electoral performance has been extremely limited. It is hard to know what could happen in the future. Some political scientists at Gothenburg University think that the party could grow in the future depending on factors such as the behaviors of the far-right Sweden Democrats and the political communication of progressive and conservative political parties. The future development also depends on behaviors and results on the local level as in socially exposed areas as in Stockholm and Malmoe.
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