SD party leader Jimmie Åkesson extends a hand to S leader Magdalena Andersson.
The assassination attempt on Trump made him think about the debate climate in Sweden.
– The debate has been betrayed, says Åkesson.
In his summer speech in Sölvesborg, Jimmie Åkesson appealed to Magdalena Andersson to “stop the poisoned debate”. He believes that the political rhetoric has become more confrontational and that much of that is due to Magdalena Andersson’s study visit to the USA last year.
– We saw it in the last election campaign, and partly before the EU elections, where various actors portray other political opponents as threats to democracy. It risks triggering and legitimizing violence. We need to take each other in hand and raise the level of debate. I will try to take my share of the responsibility, says Jimmie Åkesson to TV4 Nyheterna after his summer speech.
What responsibility do you have to raise the level of debate?
– I am a leading politician in Sweden, it is clear that what I say and think is important. After the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, I have thought about what the climate of debate we have today can lead to in the long run, what forces unleash it, he says.
Åkesson said in his speech that he wants to put policy at the center and “accept the differences” but “cooperate where we think alike”.
– It is not worthy of our proud country that elected officials keep such a low level, call other elected officials or parties, ugly words and stick labels. Let’s all step it up a few notches, he says.
Want to allow criminal provocation
In his speech, the SD leader also highlighted a series of proposals and reforms that the Tidö parties have advanced with during the first half of the term, including in legal and migration policy.
Among other things, he wants the police to be allowed to provoke crime in order to stop pedophiles.
– It is urgent. Not least through the work Dumpen does, which makes visible an extent of this type of crime that surprises me. But it is not private individuals, associations or civil society that should devote themselves to this – but the state that should ensure that children are also protected online. Then we need to give the police tools, says Jimmie Åkesson.