The security situation for residents and those moving to Barkarbystaden has changed radically – without Järfälla Municipality having informed the public.
The Armed Forces have reactivated the mountain base Barkarby 4:1 (Robot Height) and have begun new construction. What was supposed to be civilian urban development is now an active military facility right next to our homes and the new metro station.
This is being hidden from you as a resident:
The council is covering up the information: Järfälla Municipality refuses to release the Swedish Armed Forces' classified referral opinion to Master Plan 2050. Access to how the defence perceives the risks in our immediate vicinity is completely closed.
Strategic bombing target modern Russian hypersonic missiles, like Oreshnik, are in practice impossible to stop with today's air defence. Placing protected military infrastructure directly next to a densely populated residential area makes Barkarbystaden a primary target in the event of a conflict.
There are no shelters. Despite living right next to a primary military target, the planned housing development lacks civilian shelters.
Lessons from the Middle East: Experience shows how vulnerable it is to concentrate strategic resources near civilians. The USA has repeatedly lost the initiative and bases in the Middle East because fixed facilities cannot be protected against modern missile and drone attacks.
The crossroads: Diplomacy or economic devastation?
Europe's current security policy is stuck in a dangerous deadlock. Without a clear strategy for how the conflict should end, support for Ukraine continues, draining the EU's resources and increasing the risk of a major war.
The risks of the current line:
Economic exhaustion Europe's countries bear a heavy economic burden that directly impacts welfare and industry.
Escalation spiral When military means do not yield results, the stakes are raised, bringing us closer to a full-scale conflict.
Political prestige The fear of failure prevents decision-makers from reconsidering strategy, which locks in policy.
Ambition Sverige’s way forward:
To secure Sweden's future, a shift from confrontation to diplomacy.
Open channels: Dialogue is not weakness. Conflicts can ultimately only be resolved at the negotiating table.
A realistic peace A sustainable security architecture in Europe must be based on a balance that reduces the risk of future wars.
Domestic focus: Sweden's resources should primarily be used to secure our own economy and the welfare of its citizens.
It takes political courage to choose the negotiating table over the battlefield.
In her summer talk, Elsa Widding, leader of the Ambition Sverige party, delivers a scathing critique of Swedish security and foreign policy, the EU’s influence and the political debate in the Riksdag. She describes how Sweden risks being drawn into a major war with Russia and argues that the government and the Riksdag have capitulated to supranational agendas.
Elsa Widding begins with a brief personal note. She refers to previous summer programmes where she spoke about her husband's death from cancer and her time with her sons, but states that hope for her family is now gone. She speaks of a long-standing grief over the estrangement of her adult children and believes more people need to dare to talk about it. She then moves on to politics.
She describes her path into the debate after the books The climate carousel (2019) and Common sense on energy and climate (2022) as well as YouTube films. The topics have broadened from climate and energy to freedom of expression, Covid, geopolitics and the power of supranational organisations. She believes that censorship is increasing and that freedom of expression is being eroded in Sweden.
Criticism of the EU and supranationalism
Widding argues that Sweden is gradually implementing EU legislation that reduces national self-determination. She describes the EU as a socialist project where decisions are made behind closed doors and voters' influence is shrinking. Agenda 2030 is described as a driving force behind the government's and parliament's actions, along with the UN, WHO, and World Economic Forum. She claims that power over Sweden has been taken out of the people's hands for the benefit of these organisations.
Security policy and the risk of war
The bulk of the discussion is dedicated to security policy. Widding criticises The DCA agreement with the USA, which she claims means that Sweden has relinquished territorial sovereignty. The USA has the right to use 17 large bases and areas, potentially install nuclear weapons and wage war from Swedish territory – something she believes will provoke Russia.
She views the war in Ukraine as a proxy war in which Sweden and NATO are escalating the conflict in a way that risks dragging Sweden into it. She points to corruption in Ukraine (citing figures in the tens of billions of dollars), previous peace efforts in 2022 which she claims the West thwarted, and the fact that Russia views NATO’s expansion as an existential threat.
According to Widding, the government and NATO are mistakenly believing that Russia will remain inactive while the West re-arms until 2030.
Minister of Defence Pål Jonsson, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard, and the Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called ”jelly rats” who give in to the defence industry, vaccine industry and excessive climate policy.
She warns parents of soldiers, especially elite soldiers, amphibious soldiers and units that can be deployed in the Baltics or Finland, as the risk of war is imminent. The government has been granted the mandate to send soldiers without parliamentary approval, which she views as serious.
Widding quotes herself from a parliamentary debate: If Swedish sons fall in a NATO-Russia war, the government will have their blood on its hands. She urges soldiers not to trust politicians.
Democracy, party discipline and migration
She harshly criticises parliament's working methods. Members are described as ”clueless button-pushers” who are controlled by party and group leaderships, which in turn are controlled by the EU and other international bodies. Speaker Andreas Norlén receives criticism for maintaining the facade of democracy and for expensive private flights at the taxpayer's expense.
The offset debate in spring 2026 is highlighted as an example of how the system works – or doesn't work.
Regarding the Sweden Democrats, she says the party abandoned its ideology for power: they have accepted EU supranationalism, climate goals, WHO health policy, CBDC, and warmongering against Russia. Migration policy, according to her, has not delivered, despite higher demands for citizenship, many new citizenships and residence permits were granted.
Ambition Sverige wants a pause in immigration, focus on self-sufficiency, order and control of exclusion areas, and a census.
Sweden as an alternative
Widding presents her party as the voice of the people for common sense and a free, sovereign Sweden without coercive agendas. The party will consist of experts in various fields. She urges listeners to read the party platform at Ambitionssverige.se, to help with ballot papers, and to realise that time is short before the 2026 election.
”As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.”, "she says to those who vote for the established parties. She concludes by hoping she is wrong about the risk of war, but believes the government is gambling with Sweden's security and that diplomacy with Russia would be preferable.".
Transcription, photo and summary: Torbjörn Sassersson
Bosse Hansson, deputy leader of the Ambition Sverige party, says that your pension and retirement should be a reward for a lifetime of hard work, but unfortunately pensioners are not benefiting from the growth in their pension capital and are therefore not receiving the pension increases they should be entitled to.
Hansson says that it takes a long time to change the pension system, but that what can be done in the short term is to raise the basic deduction for pensioners, so that they receive much more from their pension than today.
The quickest way to tackle the problem is to increase the basic allowance. The Ambition Sverige party wants to raise the basic allowance to two price base amounts, which means that the first 10,000 kronor of the monthly pension will be tax-free.
This means that the vast majority of pensioners will receive an extra 2,100 Swedish kronor in pension after tax each month. This can be financed by cutting the number of government agencies in Sweden and also by discontinuing foreign aid.
Torbjörn Sassersson asked Hansson what he would recommend younger people, those in their thirties and forties now, to consider in order to get a good pension.
Bo Hansson:
”Above all, they should think about saving themselves, individually in private equity funds. Start saving early. It builds your capital, your own capital in the long run, and that's where you'll get a decent life from.”
Hansson continues by pointing out that today's income pension system is not actually your own capital, but a claim on a payment that the state has full control over.
”Save privately instead and start early. This builds capital so that you have a more bearable future.”
Torbjörn Sassersson: Are you talking about pension funds or your own savings?
Bo HanssonAmbition Sverigeanswers that it doesn't matter, but rather that it's about saving in something you feel comfortable with. He recommends equity funds, preferably index funds that have the lowest fees in the long term. ”That's the winning concept.”
Torbjörn Sassersson: If we take those who are furthest from retirement, the twenty-year-olds who have just entered working life, do the same principles apply to them, or should they think in a particular way?
Bo Hansson:
”Yes, fundamentally the same principle applies, but when you're twenty and before you're thirty, there are so many other circumstances and costs.”
”I didn't save separately for my pension before I was thirty, so I have complete sympathy for that, but at least as soon as you pass thirty, you should start thinking about saving yourself, individually in some index fund for your own pension future.”
Interview and compilation: Torbjörn Sassersson
In her summer talk for the Ambition Sverige party, parliamentary candidate Erika Dittmer describes how a personal commitment to freedom led her into politics. She emphasises that she is driven neither by power nor status, but by the desire to restore genuine freedom for the individual and the family.
Dittmer begins by stating that she is not interested in politics in the traditional sense. What drives her is the freedom to live as one wishes, without harming others or the planet. She highlights four simple principles that she believes are more than sufficient: you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not lie, and you shall not be greedy.
According to Dittmer, society has sold an illusion of freedom and choice. Beneath the surface, she finds control, surveillance, and punishment for those who do not follow the prevailing narrative.
”What you see is freedom for a few, while the great mass is gradually bound into a web of slavery.”
She explains that she therefore felt she could no longer stand on the sidelines but had to get actively involved in dismantling what isn’t working and building something new. That is why she is standing as a parliamentary candidate for Ambition Sverige. Fear as a tool and criticism of education policy
Dittmer warns that someone benefits from keeping humans in constant fear. From fear, the need for more control, laws, and surveillance is born. A calm and reflective human, on the other hand, is harder to influence, she believes.
Her criticism of family policy and the school system takes up the most space in the discussion. As the mother of two children, who are now 11 and 12 years old, she explains how she became aware of the system's lack of choice when her eldest daughter turned six and school became compulsory from the age of six. She criticises the state for progressively trying to lower the starting age and for the classroom being the only approved place of learning.
She paints a picture of how parents are pressured to hand over young children to preschool despite their gut feeling telling them otherwise.
According to Dittmer, the result is that the child's attachment to their parents is damaged and that loyalty is instead directed towards ”the group,” the system, and authorities outside the home. This is, she argues, partly intentional in order to create a more controllable society.
Dittmer presents parts of the family policy programme that she is working on within the party. Central to this is freedom as a guiding principle. Among the proposals, she mentions:
Greater choice for families based on children's actual needs.
Home care will become a subsidised alternative to preschool.
Compulsory schooling replaced by compulsory education – no coercion.
Financial security and pension points for those who choose to stay at home with their children.
Teachers should be able to focus on teaching instead of administration and order.
Political ideologies should be removed from the curriculum.
She stresses that no universal solution fits all, but that freedom of choice is a necessary part of the answer.
The conversation concludes with an invitation for the listener to reflect on the thoughts that have been raised. Dittmer refers to her autobiography *Kameleontflickan* for those who wish to know more about her personal journey and provides contact details for political matters.
In summary, Erika Dittmer paints a picture of a society in which the state is increasingly taking control of the lives of parents and children, and suggests that Ambition Sverige should be the force that restores the freedom of the individual and the family.
Christian Steinbeck is a business economist and former CFO who has investigated the economics of wind power by studying over 1,500 annual reports from 2017 to 2024. He concluded that the investment in wind power in Sweden is the greatest destruction of capital in modern times.
Steinbeck studied which companies own the wind turbines, but ”It’s not going well at all. It’s going terribly badly.”.
”The only ones making money out of it are those who build wind farms and then walk away. And there you'll find OX2, Eolus Vind, these project developers, but you'll also find SR Energy.
Steinbeck shows a diagram of the actual production of wind power in terawatt hours from 2015 to 2025. Production is rising, ”and that's what everyone is so proud of. We're getting more wind power in Sweden.”, but with the maximum capacity increasing, production cannot keep up.
”This is because we now have such a capacity for wind power that we have to shut it down when it's windy, otherwise the power grid will collapse, and yet more is to be built.” ... ”So we are building wind power that we cannot use, and that is perhaps the strangest thing in today's energy debate in Sweden.”
Steinbeck says that politicians want to build more wind turbines even though they are unprofitable, because a lot of the electricity that could have been produced is lost as the wind turbines are often stationary. Furthermore, wind power is financed to a very large extent by public money on which we never get a return.
During a bike tour in a pedal bar at Almedalen Week in Visby, Steinbeck shows a diagram of Sweden's electricity consumption and states that since the turn of the century, consumption has fallen by ten percent. The reduction is due to us adding insulation and expanding district heating, as well as the electricity tax being so high that many cannot afford to use electricity.
According to Statistics Sweden (SCB), six percent of Swedes can no longer afford to heat their homes as much during the winter months.
”There's so much talk about global warming, but we have global cooling in many Swedish homes. People are turning the heating down to, say, 17 degrees instead of twenty. This is a public health problem.”
Steinbeck therefore questions whether we should build even more wind turbines that we have to shut down when electricity demand is low, despite the wind blowing, because the electricity cannot be stored. This involves large amounts of electricity which are instead exported at very low prices.
Our politicians are proud of Swedish electricity exports, but this is therefore about an overproduction of electricity from wind turbines that cannot be stored, and then it is exported out of the country at bargain prices. Sweden does not make any money from this.
”If you're selling electricity for perhaps five pence per kilowatt-hour that cost perhaps eighty pence per kilowatt-hour to produce, then that's a very bad deal.
It's no wonder wind power companies are going bankrupt, argues Steinbeck.
”We sell a lot of wind power to people who get it randomly. I'd rather call it random power than wind power.”
Interview and photo: Thomas Åkerberg, Ambition Sverige | Torbjörn Sassersson
The JAS 39 Gripen aircraft, which Sweden is considering sending to Ukraine, is not the biggest problem, according to security expert and former fighter pilot Ulf Gabrielsson. The Gripen's missiles can reach Moscow and deep into Russia. That is where the danger for Sweden lies.
It is instead the advanced weapons that are planned to be integrated onto the aircraft, particularly the German The long-distance robot Taurus, which he sees as a serious threat to Swedish security.
In a statement, Gabrielsson warns that the Swedish weapons systems dramatically change the risks for Sweden. This concerns up to 36 Gripen aircraft that the government wants to donate and sell to Ukraine.
”They're not messing about. It's a long-range air-to-air missile that can shoot down other aircraft from up to ten miles away, that's one hundred kilometres,” he says.
The Gripen's robots can reach Moscow and deep into Russia
The Meteor missile [not the Taurus missile as the editor incorrectly wrote] can pose a significant threat to Russian aircraft, which currently operate relatively freely as they launch missiles and drop glide bombs on Ukrainian targets. The Meteor missile has a range of over 200 kilometres.
”A JAS can take down this robot over Ukrainian airspace and it can reach as far as Moscow. It weighs 1,500 kilos, has a 500-kilo TNT warhead, and can take out bunkers, bridges, and ships,” warns Gabrielsson.
He stresses that the weapons would be very effective for Ukraine, but from a Swedish perspective, he sees significant risks:
”Looking at Sweden's security, this is a huge threat to us. We are becoming an even higher priority target, and our arms industry, with SAAB in Linköping and SAAB Dynamics in Trollhättan manufacturing parts for the Taurus missile.”
The statement comes at a time when the government and the Armed Forces are investigating a comprehensive delivery of Gripens to Ukraine, concurrently with Sweden already supporting Ukraine with other weapon systems and ammunition.
A decision on the aircraft and their weapon load is expected in the near future.
Ulf Gabrielsson has previously criticised Swedish security policy and warned that increasingly deep Swedish involvement in Ukraine could draw Sweden into a direct confrontation with Russia.
In a announcement varnar Gabrielsson för att svenska vapenfabriker i t.ex. Karlskoga kan attackeras av ryska missiler om svenska plan används för att slå till djupt in i Ryssland. Putin har nyligen gett det ryska försvaret grön signal för att attackera utländska vapenfabriker som tillverkar vapen som används mot Ryssland.
The warmongers want war. If you win the war, you write history. If Putin wins, our politicians will end up on history's rubbish heap along with everything else our “democ-tatorship” has planned to control the people. Historically, rulers have threatened "if war comes" to retain power – then the war comes.
Had Mr Hitler won, encouraged by many leading figures in this country, we would be speaking German today, not English. .
Geopolitics
My memory consists of 1kg of fat. The best before date has passed. Sometimes it's difficult to remember what I'm supposed to do after I've unlocked the door. But I remember the book “1984”; I read it about 60 years ago. I remember the manipulation of power with Newspeak. “War is peace.” That's where we are now with the Eternal war and the Ministry of Truth. The struggle is ongoing between the superpowers Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia (USA, Russia, China) with their constant wars.
It is from this eternal balance of power that the Party's famous slogan arises: ”War is peace”. Since the state of war is completely stable and permanent, the effect is the same as permanent peace – nothing changes in the power structure.
They are too equal: None of the three superpowers can be completely defeated, not even if the other two join forces in an alliance. They are simply too large and have too strong natural defences.
Alliances are constantly shifting. Just so that no one becomes the absolutely dominant “strong” power, the alliances shift all the time. If one country risks becoming too powerful, the other two immediately join forces to restore the balance.
War is an illusion Since no one can win, the war is in practice permanent. The real purpose of the war is not to defeat the enemy, but to consume society's economic surplus. By keeping the population poor and afraid, the elite can maintain their absolute power over the citizens.
Our political elite, “The Party,” has jumped into the wrong barrel. The Atlantic Council, Nato's lobby with Wallenberg, Bildt, Pål Jonsson, and other supporters of Pax Americana, has sold out Sweden's sovereignty to get a piece of the spoils after the divided Russian empire. Western economies need constant growth to cope with their increasing debts; ”He who is in debt is not free.”.
The Swedish policy pursued is that “Putin must not win”, it is not said that “Nato must win” because there is no plan or strategy for how that would be possible. The war must therefore continue with millions dead. If Putin wins, the politicians, “The Party”, will have to show all their dirt. From 2014 to 2020, the outskirts of the million-strong city of Donetsk have been shelled and bombed. 14,000 deaths, including 600 children, have been reported. Two broken peace agreements were made, according to Merkel and Hollande, so that Nato could rearm Ukraine. The violations have been registered and documented by OSCE with Nato personnel. Note 14,000 killed and a new large attack on 19/02/2022 against Donetsk (not Kyiv) documented in detail by OSCE. See the extensive OSCE report. It was a provocation and a outright attackfrom Kyiv.
Consequence: The political elite, the “Party,” cannot step out of the barrel because the neo-Nazi filth would then be visible. They continue to send increasingly deadly weapons, causing more deaths of Russian soldiers and civilians. Russia is registering this but has tactically refrained from counter-attacks thus far. With the USA occupied and NATO's armouries depleted, the situation will change.
Järfälla’s military-strategic industries are potential bombing targets.
All public authority in Sweden derives from the people, and the Riksdag is the people’s foremost traitor.
The Swedish people are going to the polls. The election is about War or Peace..
a brief historical description of trade with Russia:
During the 19th century, under a new French king (who was not Russophobic), we enjoyed extremely good trade relations with Russia. Nobel, L M Ericsson, Atlas and others were major industrial firms with pioneering technology in Russia.
1918: Lenin, economically sponsored by Swedish and German interests, seized power. Many fortunes were made, both legally and illegally, while others suffered significant losses. Lars Magnus Ericsson lost his factory in St. Petersburg and control of the entire company in Sweden. Other companies sold locomotives, electric generators, and turbines for hydroelectric power plants, among other things.
1939: The Winter War was a war over nickel. The Soviet Union lacked nickel for its war industry in the run-up to the impending war with Nazi Germany. The mine in the town of Nickel had ended up on the wrong side of the border, according to the Russians. During the war years, nickel production was exported to Germany, which was short of raw materials. After the war, the town ended up on the Russian side.
Sweden's exports to the Soviet Union during the period 1945–1991 were high-tech and industrial. As a neutral country with a strong engineering industry, Sweden managed to balance between Western restrictions (CoCom) and Moscow's great need to modernise its economy.
Swedish exports to the Soviet Union consisted primarily of the following goods:
Engineering and Mechanical Engineering: This was by far the largest export category. Sweden sold heavy machinery, turbines, generators and complete factory equipment, including machinery for the Soviet paper and pulp industry.
High-quality steel and metal products: The Soviet Union needed Swedish special steel, stainless steel pipes and, above all ball bearing from SKF, which was a critical component for their heavy industry.
Telecommunications: Telephone Limited Company LM Ericsson played a key role. Sweden exported advanced telephone exchanges and telecommunications systems to help expand the Soviet telecommunications network. Standard Radio computers for the Bajhonour space station. Datasaab Air traffic control computers. .
Transport equipment and ships: Swedish shipyards built and exported specialised vessels, refrigerated ships and fishing boats to the Soviet merchant fleet. They also supplied heavy goods vehicles and spare parts from Volvo and Scania was exported.
Food industry equipment: Companies that Alfa Laval exported separators, dairy plants and other equipment to improve the efficiency of the Soviet food supply chain.
SAS was the first airline with scheduled services. Volvo was the only foreign car brand with a service workshop in Moscow.
Since 1991, a number of Swedish companies, both large and small, have established themselves in Russia in addition to those mentioned above, such as IKEA and H&M, with sales and production operations. For example, Volvo Trucks accounted for 9% of Russian production of heavy goods vehicles.
Following the sanctions imposed by the West on companies operating in Russia, Chinese firms have taken over the market.
The political class does not work for the country, they work for poverty and eternal war.
We have to change, no one else cares!
It is your DUTY!
Elsa Widding, Jamal El-Haj and Lorena Delgado Varas all decided to remain in Parliament – despite breaking with their respective parties. Now the ”parliamentary troublemakers” meet in the Politics Bureau studio for a discussion about what it's like to go against your own party colleagues.
Furthermore, they will reveal how they intend to vote on some of the spring's hottest issues where government policy is at risk of falling. Guests: the party-affiliated MPs Elsa Widding, Jamal El-Haj, and Lorena Delgado Varas.
Programme leader: Karolina Skoglund.
SVT
Thabo Motsieloa interviewed MP and political maverick Elsa Widding on the podcast Zeitgeist Sweden.
Amidst the storm that has followed the conflicts with the Tidö parties, criticism from Jimmie Åkesson, and the threats that have led her to cancel public appearances before the election.
In a long conversation with Thabo Motsieloa, she talks about the war in Ukraine, NATO, the EU, Swedish sovereignty, and why she believes Sweden is being drawn deeper and deeper into a great power conflict.
Widding directs sharp criticism at the media, the DCA agreement, migration policy, and what she describes as an increasingly narrow public discourse.
She also talks about the threats, democracy in Sweden, the energy crisis, and why many people, in her opinion, no longer feel represented by the established parties.
Source: Thabo Motsieloa, Zeitgeist Sweden
The latest witch hunt against me has crossed all boundaries. It wasn't about substantive issues, arguments, or political choices. It has been a wave of personal hatred, suspicion, and direct threats of violence. The feeds contain not only harsh words, but also direct and detailed threats. One of them described how I would be cut into small pieces.
This is not a price anyone should have to pay to participate in politics.
What triggered this hatred?
The trigger was the latest vote on stricter requirements for Swedish citizenship.
In that question, it was claimed that I voted against stricter requirements. That is not true. I voted for seven out of eight decision points and stand behind stricter requirements for Swedish citizenship.
Yet Jimmie Åkesson claimed in Sunday's party leader debate on SVT that I had received bribes from the Green Party. How can a party leader stand on public service broadcasting and spread a false claim about bribes?
In the current political climate, where lies quickly become fuel for witch hunts, hatred and threats, this is deeply irresponsible. When a person in Jimmie Åkesson's position says something like that publicly, he reinforces the suspicion and amplifies a climate that has already gone far beyond the limit.
What responsibility do political leaders actually take for the consequences of their words and statements?
The decision point where I made a different assessment concerned transitional rules for individuals who had already applied for citizenship under previous regulations, where the requirement had been five years' residence in Sweden instead of eight.
My conclusion was that there was very little to be gained from lacking clear transition rules, but an obvious risk of more legal proceedings, overloaded authorities, and unnecessary costs for taxpayers.
When laws change mid-process without clarity on how the transition should be handled, the risk of different interpretations, longer proceedings, and more complicated application increases. I also see a risk that this will largely become a symbolic gesture, while the practical consequences could be increased uncertainty.
I have weighed arguments, analysed and come to my own assessment. Therefore, I chose to vote differently on one out of eight decision points.
Let me also make it clear: I took this decision as a Member of Parliament, not as leader of the Ambition Sverige party.
At the same time, I want to be clear: I support stricter requirements for Swedish citizenship, which I also voted for in the ballot.
I want to see a migration policy based on order, responsibility and clear rules. Sweden must regain control over migration and ensure that immigration occurs in a way that is sustainable for the country.
My starting point is simple: anyone who immigrates to Sweden should support themselves through honest work, respect Swedish law, and contribute to society.
I have drawn up Ambition Sverige’s migration policy programme, which focuses specifically on these issues. Please feel free to read the party programme on Ambition Sverige’s website: ambitionsverige.se
More or less democracy in the Swedish Riksdag?
The Swedish parliamentary system is based on individual MPs being present in the chamber and voting by pressing a green, red, or yellow button. This may sound technical, but behind every button press lies personal responsibility.
Sweden is a representative democracy. Voters vote for parties, but they also elect members who are expected to familiarise themselves with issues, understand the consequences of decisions, and ultimately take responsibility for their vote. A Member of Parliament is not elected to be a mechanical extension of the party leadership.
In the debate about setting off, it has become clear that the Sweden Democrats' leadership considers it a given that not only SD's own members will vote according to the party line, but also independent members – so-called political independents – who previously belonged to the party.
The group leadership within the Sweden Democrats consists of group leader Linda Lindberg, deputy group leader Henrik Vinge, and second deputy group leader Julia Kronlid. At the parliamentary group's meetings, members are informed about the policy in upcoming votes. This in itself is nothing unusual. All parties work with coordination.
The problem arises when the party line is no longer a recommendation, but in practice a Compulsion. When members who might vote the wrong way are excluded rather than allowed to attend and vote according to their own convictions, then we have a democratic problem.
Before the vote on Nato, I and several other members were swapped out. I had voted no. But through the swap, my vote never had to appear on the roll call.
This is precisely the point.
The offsetting system is intended to manage absences so that the balance of power in parliament is not affected by illness, travel, or other practical hindrances. It is not intended to be used as a way to control or neutralise members who may vote according to conscience, knowledge, or their own analysis.
When set-off is used in that way, the issue becomes bigger than a single vote. Then it's about whether parliament consists of 349 independent members or if the chamber is practically just an extension of the party group leaders.
The system for voting simultaneously relies on personal accountability that extends beyond committee work and party meetings. Individual members ought to know what they are voting for or against, particularly on major and fundamental issues.
If members are not expected to think for themselves, if they are not allowed to follow their conscience or their own knowledge on crucial matters, then the voting buttons might as well be removed. In that case, members could stay home, and the voting could take place directly based on the parties' allocation of seats and the group leaders' instructions.
In such an arrangement, the Members of Parliament have in practice played out their role.
A significantly more serious problem than the existence of a few uncontrollable and unbribable non-party-affiliated members of parliament is that other members often lack the practical ability to vote according to their inner conviction or moral compass on sensitive issues.
A clear example is the vote on legal gender reassignment at the age of 16. The Moderate Party member who went against the party line and voted no demonstrated precisely the courage a free mandate is intended to enable. But everyone who dares to go against the party line also knows that the price can be high.
This should be discussed more.
Because if every independent voice is treated as a problem, and every deviation from the party line is punished, what then remains of representative democracy?
The free mandate does not exist to cause disorder. It exists to ensure that Parliament is not reduced to a predictable button-pushing machine.
A Member of Parliament who is never allowed to think for themselves is not actually needed.
Then we won't get more democracy. We'll get less.
When independence is called bribery
Jimmie Åkesson claims that Katja Nyberg and I have accepted bribes from the Green Party. Both Katja and I voted for seven out of eight points in the proposal for stricter requirements for Swedish citizenship. We therefore voted for a tighter migration policy. Trying to describe this as if we were acting on behalf of the Green Party is not serious.
The point at which I made a different assessment was regarding transitional rules. I believed that the absence of clear transitional rules risked creating more legal proceedings, higher costs, and more strain on already overburdened agencies.
You can criticise that. You can think I was wrong. But calling it bribes is something else entirely.
When a party leader makes such an accusation against independent members, they contribute to poisoning political discourse. Moreover, they do something else: they attack the very idea that a Member of Parliament can make an independent decision.
A free mandate means something. If every independent vote and deviation from the party line is to be explained by bribery, then the problem is the perception of democracy.
My message is and has always been: Think for yourself!
For me, it’s not a slogan, but a lifelong approach. In my professional life, in public debate, and in Parliament, I've always tried to remain free enough to analyse, evaluate, and draw my own conclusions. I did that in the latest vote as well.
My hope is that more people will dare to do the same, in parliament, in public debate and in Sweden at large.
For a free society, free people are required.
People who dare to think for themselves, even when the winds are blowing.
