KD profile Lars Adaktusson directs harsh criticism at Ebba Busch and the party in a new book that is released today. Adaktusson thinks that the Christian Democrats have gone too far to the right – and that the party is characterized by a leadership that lacks humility. But Ebba Busch does not recognize herself in the picture.
Lars Adaktusson has been a member of the European Parliament for the Christian Democrats, member of the Riksdag and from 2017 to 2019 he was also second vice-chairman of the party. Today, he publishes the book “The facade and the inside” where he comes down hard on party leader Ebba Busch.
“In my own party, meanwhile, I saw in the Riksdag a non-inclusive leadership with significant difficulties in accepting and dealing with internal criticism. Too rarely did the party leader himself open up for evaluation and debate about important positions and his own actions,” writes Lars Adaktusson.
The abortion issue is central
Much of the book deals with KD’s handling of Dagens Nyheter’s articles about how Adaktusson voted regarding abortion during his time as an EU parliamentarian. The author believes that the party sacrificed him, and calls the whole thing an unresolved workplace conflict. Adaktusson describes several abuses by Ebba Busch, such as when he proposed an evaluation of the party’s crisis management:
“I was told that I was disloyal, only thinking about myself and not moving in step with the party’s leadership,” writes Adaktusson
Ebba Busch says that she has not read the book and does not want to answer whether she recognizes the image of a party that has difficulty handling criticism:
– You should really ask those who are active in the party about that. I think it says something that we have so many important representatives that we were able to fill six cabinet positions in government, says Ebba Busch.
Criticizes right turn
Lars Adaktusson has so far declined interviews. But in the book he also criticizes the right turn he considers the party made under Ebba Busch, and calls it “embezzling the political legacy of Lewi Pethrus and Alf Svensson”. He is also critical of the approach to the Sweden Democrats.
“The need for a Christian democracy that places human value before the possession of power is hardly clearer than in a debate climate where the concept of refugee has become synonymous with crime and terrorism,” writes Adaktusson.
Kd’s party leader Ebba Busch is not sure if she will read the book.
– It is not on the reading list for this summer, it is primarily children’s books with my children. Depending on how big the letters are in this book, it might qualify. And how exemplary it is in how to write about others, says Ebba Busch.