The Sweden Democrats’ Instincts Offer Hope

Lena Andersson argues that the Sweden Democrats have offered grounds for hope after a parliamentary term that turned out to be more of a liberal breakthrough than a collapse.

She says the party, often viewed with apprehension, has shown universalist instincts. Its tendencies toward identity politics, she writes, have been tamed or kept in check.

Andersson is sharply critical of Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson’s recurring claim that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson “cut his own taxes” while in office. She says the phrase carries an unpleasant suggestion of corruption, as if Kristersson were a dictator free to use power as he wished.

She acknowledges that the opposition leader cannot literally mean that. But she argues that the wording still evokes the association, making it malicious, deceptive and irresponsible.

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cut his own taxes