National Democrats (Sweden)

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National Democrats
Nationaldemokraterna
 
National Democrats logo
 
 
Founded October 2001
Newspaper Nationell Idag
 
Ideology White Nationalism, ethnopluralism[1]
International affiliation Euronat
Official colours Orange
 
Website
www.nd.se

The National Democrats (Nationaldemokraterna, ND) is a minor political party in Sweden, formed by a faction of the Sweden Democrats in October 2001. The far right party describes itself as a democratic nationalist ("national democratic") and ethnopluralist party.[1] The general media and other observers frequently designate the party as xenophobic and/or racist[2][3][4][5][6][7] and the Stephen Roth Institute has described it as "neo-Nazi"[8], while the party itself rejects these descriptions.[9][10]

In the 2006 general election the party gained 3,064 votes (0.06%) in the elections to the Riksdag. The party also has representation in two municipalities south of Stockholm. The current chairman of the party is Marc Abramsson.

On February 2, 2008, the old party logo consisting of a blue and yellow sail was replaced with an orange cloudberry flower. [1]

Contents

[edit] Ideology

The rightwing party describes its ideology as nationalist ("national democratic") and ethnopluralist.[1] A broad outline of the party program:

  • Defend Sweden by creating an ethnically-pure white people. Non-white immigration should be stopped to prevent people of non-white heritage from assimilating into the Swedish population. The party blames foreigners for crime, poverty and what they call "declining moral values".
  • The culture should be traditionally Swedish; thus, the National Democrats advocates a ban on mosques and "unhealthy artworks and buildings".
  • No foreign institutions or companies should be able to own media.

ND also says that they want to "strengthen democracy" by limiting the right to vote. They say the most important requirement to be able to vote is to have a general knowledge of politics.

According to Jimmy Windeskog, a leading member of the party, the "political roots of the party goes back to the social democratic idea of the Folkhemmet, so professionally constructed by social democratic politicians like Per Albin Hansson and Ernst Wigforss. These people have more in common with ND today than any other party".[11]

The party is highly critical of multinational corporations such as Shell and McDonald's which they label as "imperialist corporations" who are "exploiting third world resources [and] contributing to environmental pollution".[12]

In its 2006 general election manifesto, the party writes: "For years the social democrats have pursued a pure liberalist right-wing policy. They have bended their backs for the global market forces and opened up our country for the large companies to greedily grab. We know that Sweden can stand good in the competition with other countries, but then the state need side with the Swedish workers'."[13]

The party is also highly critical of United States foreign policy and of NATO, which it calls the "military spearheads of the global empire".[14][15] The party also calls for struggle against what it calls the "imperialist occupations of Serbia, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan."[15]

[edit] Homosexuality

The party holds that parents should maintain "healthy family ideals" and the nuclear family should be preserved. No "perverted" family forms should be allowed, for instance legalised homosexual relations. Homosexuality is generally accepted in Swedish society.

Prominent members of ND and its youth organization NDU were involved in a violent protest against participants of the Stockholm Pride parade in the summer of 2003 which resulted in a severe beating of one man and brief panic among parade participants. A number of NDU members, including the chairman of NDU, Marc Abrahamsson and ND's candidate for the EU parliament elections in 2004, John Andersson, were indicted for battery and rioting and were later convicted of it.

According to ND, the incident was caused by undue provocation by alleged members of violent anarchist networks who had infiltrated the parade and that the actions of the ND and NDU members was mere self-defense. During previous pride parades, ND had staged very minor non-violent counter-demonstrations to show their resistance to the idea of gay rights and gay pride.

Most of ND's criticism of the gay community and gay rights movement is motivated by a view of homosexuality as being unnatural and because the party believes that gay male individuals are heavily overrepresented among child molestors and that gay rights organizations to some extent support pedophilia. Most of the slogans in protests aimed at gay organizations, pressure groups and communities concern pedophilia.

[edit] Campaigns and political ties

Campaigning before the 2004 European Parliament election, Nick Griffin of the British National Party visited Sweden and the National Democrats to give the party his endorsement.[citation needed]

A very popular and reoccurring part of ND campaigns target an alleged over-representation of immigrant groups in crime statistics with strong focus on sex crimes.

ND has also participated in several of the annual "Salem Marches" together with openly national socialist organizations such as the National Socialist Front, the Swedish Resistance Movement and Blood & Honour. ND has also participated with these organizations in annual marches honoring King Charles XII of Sweden on November 30 and a march in memory of the bombing of Dresden in World War II.[citation needed]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Nationaldemokraterna
  2. ^ Sverigedemokraterna kom in i nio kommuner
  3. ^ SvD » Stockholmsnyheter » Tretton omhändertagna vid torgmöte
  4. ^ svt.se - Valet 06
  5. ^ Ny partiledare i Nationaldemokraterna - sr.se
  6. ^ I väntan på raskriget
  7. ^ "En mörk dag för Sveriges brevbärare" - Nyheter - Expressen.se - Sveriges bästa nyhetssajt!
  8. ^ Antisemitism And Racism
  9. ^ Nationaldemokraterna
  10. ^ Nationaldemokraterna
  11. ^ Sällskapet Kafé Kastanjeträdet: Opublicerat: 1
  12. ^ Nationaldemokraterna
  13. ^ Valmanifest: Välfärd före mångkultur - Nationaldemokraterna
  14. ^ Nationaldemokraterna
  15. ^ a b Nationaldemokraterna

[edit] External links

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Nationalism and fascism in Sweden
Pre-1945 groups
Post-1945 defunct groups
Active groups
Pre-1945 persons
Post-1945 persons
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