What happened
The newspaper Dagens ETC highlights that the Sweden Democrats are directing attacks at Somalis in the same way as Donald Trump in the USA. The newspaper notes that Member of Parliament Tobias Andersson (SD) has demanded that Mohamed Ali (V) be deported. The background to the move is a discussion about how preference votes were distributed in general elections. According to Dagens ETC, the attack is about far darker forces than merely an objective review of votes.
Our analysis
The demand to deport an elected politician shows how far normalization has gone. According to the constitution, citizenship must be unconditional and equal for all. Now, representatives of a party supporting the government are using threats of deportation as a political weapon against opponents.
This is not just about Mohamed Ali. The message to all Swedish-Somalis and other new Swedes in the country is clear: your citizenship is on sufferance. If you get involved in party politics and win votes, you are met not with political counterarguments, but with demands that you be thrown out of the country.
The question must be reversed. What does it cost Sweden when respect for the democratic rules of the game is dismantled to win votes through casting suspicion? When elected officials are threatened with deportation, it is not integration that is failing, but the view of democracy among those who govern.
Explained
A preference vote means that the voter marks a specific name on the ballot. A candidate who receives enough votes can be elected to the Riksdag or municipal council ahead of those the party placed higher on the list.