Sweden – the sweet little northern Nordic country tucked cutely between Norway and Finland has widely been famed for its extravagant social welfare programs and open-arms policy. However, the people of Sweden are no longer fans of their country’s policy of keeping its borders open for just about anyone to walk in at will. In the past decade, the small European country has started burning itself from within – and the flames of radical Islamism now threaten the very fabric of Swedish society. Recent rioting in various Swedish towns, beginning with Linköping has proven how violent Islamists have tightened their grip over the streets of the country.
Islamists were ‘protesting’ the alleged burning of their holy book, the Quran. Far-right groups in Sweden have grown disgusted with violent extremists, which is why they now resort to burning books considered holy by one community. The violence perpetrated by extremists soon spread through several cities of Sweden, with clashes being reported from multiple locations
What do Ordinary Swedes Feel?
The people of Sweden are yearning for change. The ruling Swedish Democrats face a challenge in September this year, as the people will vote to determine whether the party deserves to remain in power or be kicked out. The Swedish Democrats have a thin edge over other stakeholders of Swedish polity.
According to a survey, 30.8% of people from Sweden said they would vote for Social Democrats. Importantly, though, 25.6% of the respondents said they did not know who they would vote for. This tells us that there is a major void in the European country’s political landscape, and voters are desperately in need of a right-wing alternative.
The Social Democrats are strongly being supported by foreigners in Sweden. It is perhaps to woo the foreigners, refugees, and violent Islamists that Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson hired an undocumented immigrant as a housecleaner earlier this year.
Refugees have been destroying Sweden for years now. Unfortunately, no mainstream party in Sweden has the gall to call out Islamists and their violent inclinations. Yet, the people of Sweden are looking for respite. They do not want to be made second-class citizens in their own country by Islamists and their panderers in the political sphere.
Who Will Take Charge?
Could Rasmus Paludan, a Danish leader of the far-right Stram Kurs party galvanize enough support in Sweden to form the next government? If Paludan focuses on mainstream politics rather than gimmick shows, he might just end up becoming a formidable challenger to the Social Democrats’ government.
The proportion of Sweden’s population born abroad is one of the highest in Europe. In 2017, 18.5 percent of Sweden’s population was born abroad, compared with the EU average of 7.2 percent. According to an ODI country profile, Sweden is also home to the seventh-largest proportion of refugees per capita globally. In 2011, only 8 percent of Swedes believed that migration was the most important issue facing the country; by 2016, the figure skyrocketed to 44 percent.
Due to rampant immigration, Sweden had as early as 2017 resorted to making cuts to the funds provided for the welfare of Swedish citizens. There has been a housing crisis for quite some time as the ‘housing for all motto’ appears to fail at every step of the way. This, while pensions and support for elderly people have been cut too.
Meanwhile, areas infested with Islamists have become no-go zones for genuine Swedish citizens. Drug peddling, crime, antisemitism, and violence are the order of the day in such ghettos. As per the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, between 2012-and 2016, the murder rate in Sweden increased by 70 percent.
Read more: Sweden riots – Autonomous Islamic Ghetto zones in different parts of Europe are ticking time bombs
These are all issues that affect the genuine citizens of Sweden on a personal level. Swedes now need an outlet. They desire a change in the status quo, and that can only happen when a hard-line right-wing government takes charge. So, if rational, motivated, and deserving conservatives do come together, they could very well be voted to power in Sweden this September.
