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full screen Social Democrats party leader Magdalena Andersson. Archive image. Photo: Judit Nilsson / Svd / TT
The Social Democrats’ Magdalena Andersson reacts strongly to an investigation into limiting party lotteries.
– The sole purpose is to cut off the largest opposition party’s funding.
The S leader believes that the inquiry that has now presented its proposals has been appointed by the government to attack the Social Democrats.
– It is a new situation in Sweden. We usually cooperate on party funding broadly across party lines because we have found it important in a democracy to seek broad agreements on issues like this.
– To unilaterally appoint not one, but actually two, investigations whose sole purpose is to cut off funding for the largest opposition party, that is something completely new in Swedish politics.
The turnover for the lotteries that S and the youth association SSU have is approximately SEK 250 million per year and in 2022 the profit was SEK 42 million.
When asked what a total ban on party lotteries would have meant for the Social Democrats, Andersson answers:
– I don’t think the important thing here is what it means for us social democrats, but that this is a completely new way of acting in Sweden. Compare with 2002 when the Moderates had enormous financial problems. Then we were in government, and in collaboration with the Moderates saw to helping them out of that situation.
She then means the state party support that was increased for all parties after the election.