A new political collaboration between the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats ahead of the election has sparked strong reactions. The Liberals have opened the door for the Sweden Democrats to have ministers in a future government if the Tidö parties win the election. In Malmö, Green Party politician Surra Al Sakban has expressed outrage over the news and commented on the agreement by drawing a parallel to Nazi Germany and the gas chambers.
In a Facebook post after the press conference, Surra Al Sakban, who sits on Malmö’s municipal council and is, among other things, vice chair of the leisure committee, wrote: “It didn’t start with the gas chamber, it started with a hug.”
The statement referred to Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson and Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson embracing after the press conference. Al Sakban says she wants to warn about the possible consequences of entering into agreements with the Sweden Democrats and draws a parallel to the Holocaust.
Green Party politician: They don’t want people like me in this country
In an interview with Sydsvenskan, the Green Party politician said that her intention was to take a stand against normalizing the Riksdag’s second largest party, the Sweden Democrats.
– When it became gas chambers, it wasn’t that they started by saying they didn’t want certain people. It started by saying these people are ruining things for us. They are the problem. In the end, they wanted to exterminate them, she told Sydsvenskan.
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She was then asked whether something similar could happen in Sweden. She doesn’t know, but says she has never been “so worried” as she is now. Al Sakban emphasizes she is “worried about everything” because, according to her, the Sweden Democrats don’t want people like her in the country.
– I stand by my view that I don’t want to make the Sweden Democrats respectable. No matter how much they share some values publicly, they always show in the end which party they truly are. They don’t want people like me in this country, the Green Party politician tells Sydsvenskan.
At the same time, the Green Party politician has deleted the post.
Sweden Democrats: “Terrible comparison”
Magnus Olsson (SD), municipal commissioner in Malmö, reacted strongly to the post and called the comparison distasteful. He says he is shocked by her statement.
– I think it’s a terrible comparison, the Sweden Democrats politician told Sydsvenskan.
The Sweden Democrats politician also says he plans to raise the issue with the Green Party’s group leader in Malmö’s municipal council and that Surra Al Sakban should be ashamed and apologize.