The City of Malmö granted over half a million kronor in taxpayer money to the educational association ABF to organize a Muslim Eid al-Adha celebration—without any open application process. The fact that the only application received came from an S (Social Democratic) politician has now raised questions of conflict of interest, political influence, and the use of public funds to attract Muslim voters ahead of the election.

The City of Malmö decided to allocate 570,000 kronor to ABF to organize a celebration for the gender-segregated Islamic holiday Eid al-Adha. However, the allocation was not preceded by any public call—and only one application was submitted.

That application was submitted by ABF’s own ombudsman, Frida Trollmyr, who is also a Social Democratic politician in the city council and a former municipal commissioner. The criticism was swift. One of the critics is the Centre Party’s group leader, Anton Sauer, who describes the situation as remarkable:

– The fact that no announcement was made about the possibility to apply, and that only one application was submitted—by an organization with labor movement ties, from an ABF ombudsman who also sits in the city council—that is remarkable. Especially during an election year, he told Kvartal.

He also points to Trollmyr’s political clout, explaining that she is no “rookie” but a “heavyweight” in Malmö’s political circles.

Sauer believes this handling risks undermining public trust in the municipality, especially in light of previous reports that associations have felt political pressure from the Social Democrats.

Background: Ibn Rushd and withdrawn grants

For a long time, Malmö’s public Eid celebrations were organized by the Islamist educational association Ibn Rushd with municipal support. The cooperation ended after a series of controversies.

Prior to 2023, Ibn Rushd requested 740,000 kronor. When the municipality offered less, an employee threatened that a canceled celebration could lead to Muslim riots—something the city reported to the police.

READ ALSO: ABF premises used for terrorist propaganda

Support was later withdrawn entirely after connections to undemocratic content emerged. Ibn Rushd has also been linked to Islamism and in some instances to environments associated with Muslim extremism and terrorism. Today, the organization has had all its grants halted.

Against this background, Malmö’s Social Democratic leadership chose to let another actor take over the event—ultimately, the educational association ABF, with close ties to the party, was selected.

Criticism: “Political bait” for Muslim votes

A central objection is that the event is used politically. Anton Sauer describes it as problematic that such a large and symbolically important celebration is handled without transparency. Other critics argue that the connection between ABF and the labor movement reinforces the impression that public funds are used for vote fishing among Muslim voters.

READ ALSO: ABF’s language course for 8-year-olds became a Quran school

There is also criticism from within the Muslim community—but of a different kind. Valley Ghanem, active in the ‘Muslim civil society’ including as a Gaza activist and connected to several Muslim fundamentalist organizations, argues that the ABF initiative is not Muslim enough.

– The Eid festival is being used as political bait to win Muslim votes. Voters are led to believe that the Social Democrats are a ‘Muslim-friendly’ party, and that is why they should vote for them.”

Internal criticism: not enough Islam

However, Ghanem’s objections differ from the other critics’. She does not think religion is given too much space—on the contrary, not enough. According to her, the municipality and ABF are trying to make the celebration more secular and generally inclusive, which she opposes.

She accuses the Social Democrats and ABF of ‘washing away’ everything in the Eid celebration that is confessionally Muslim and turning the celebration into a ‘public spectacle’.

– Some Muslims collaborating with ABF is not the same as including the Muslim civil society. They are used as alibis, she says.

From her perspective, inclusion becomes exclusion instead—as the holiday, she argues, should be only for practicing Muslims, not a broad public event. She believes the funds should go to organizations that take Islam seriously, rather than to ABF.

The municipality: No special call for applications

The City of Malmö rejects the criticism. Director of Business Development Micael Nord told Kvartal that there was no special call for applications—but that this is not unusual.

– Event support is open to associations and organizations that meet the city’s requirements, he explained to Kvartal.

He sees no problem with only one application coming in, nor that it came from within ABF and from a leading S-politician. If multiple applications had been received, they would have been weighed against each other, or there would have been a collaboration regarding the celebration, he says.

S-top officials avoid questions

Meanwhile, both Frida Trollmyr and Malmö’s democracy council member Amani Loubani (S) have been contacted for comment without result. The responsible politicians not responding to media inquiries has further contributed to perceptions of a lack of transparency regarding the decision.