Monday, April 11, 2005

Swedish Feminist Party under Construction

Gudrun Schyman, the former leader of Sweden's "reformed" Communist party the Left Party, has earlier compared Swedish men to the Taliban and called for a special tax to be paid by men only. And no, she didn't mention the Muslim gang rapes of Swedish women. That would be racist, and all men are evil, anyway. The new set-up is called Feministiskt initiativ:

Women’s own party is finally under way, under fire

Sweden’s left-wing parties showed some signs of dismay on Sunday, when a group of women politicians announced they were founding a new feminist party and planned to run in next year’s parliamentary election. After months of speculations and rumors about a women’s party, Sweden’s leading feminist, former Left Party chairwoman Gudrun Schyman, said she had allied herself with university scholars Ebba Witt-Brattström and Tiina Rosenberg to put debate on the patriarchy back on the political agenda. ‘We will challenge the power order between the sexes,’ spokeswoman Sofia Karlsson told reporters at the Feminist Initiative’s press conference. ‘Of course there are some feminists in the old parties, but you can’t tell from the policy they run.’ In most other countries, a feminist party would not be considered a serious threat to the already established political parties. In Sweden, however, recent opinion polls have shown that 20 percent of all voters would consider giving their vote to a women’s party if it existed. Sweden’s governing party, PM Göran Persson’s Social Democratic Party, immediately lashed out against the newcomers and said that he feared they would contribute to the demise of Sweden’s left-wing government. Despite Sweden being among the world’s most egalitarian countries, feminists say there are still many areas where women meet discrimination.

Feminists could clinch it for the Right

Gudrun Schyman’s Feminist Initiative would win seven percent of votes if an election were held today, a new opinion poll has shown. The Temo poll shows that Schyman is winning support from Green and Left Party supporters, meaning that both parties risk disappearing from Sweden’s parliament. This could help the right-wing coalition into power, an expert on Swedish politics has told The Local.

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