pic: folkbladet.se
The Liberal Party started their party congress today in Västerås with a speech by party leader Nyamko Sabuni, her first since being elected in late June. SvD reports that Sabuni’s speech avoided all sensitive topics, like support for the Löfven government and the January Agreement, and instead focused on the issue of suburban zones, or hotspots (utsatta områden).
“Parallell societies grow because we politicians allow it” Sabuni stated. “Today, we launch a program for the suburbs with an ambitious goal – that there will be no vulnerable zones in Sweden in the year 2030.” Sabuni mentioned reforms on all fronts – crime fighting, extremism, economical self sufficiency, gender equality, democratic values and safer residential areas. “The suggestions deal with stopping the slumification that is a breeding ground for a negative progression. It’s about measures to lessen overcrowded living conditions and measures to reduce the number of people living off of government support (Svd.se/Sabuni).
In more general terms, Sabuni tried to raise the profile of the Liberal party on other issues as well. “Liberalism must answer,” she declared, “when it comes to dealing with the important questions – not least climate issues, immigration and the socioeconomic gap that is only widening in this age of globalisation.”
Taking a page from her predecessor Jan Björklund’s favorite playbook, Sabuni also stressed the importance of schools, saying that for the Liberal party, schools form the basis for everything. “It is there dreams and hopes for the future are born. This is why we Liberals have always prioritized schools.”
Also honor violence was mentioned. “After every summer vacation we see empty chairs where a girl once sat. But few municipalities follow up and ask what happened with these girls, and no one knows how many there are. We know exactly how many Almas were born in Sweden in 2018 -564 – but not how many were taken from school and married off. It can’t continue like this.”