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STOCKHOLM (AP) — A right-wing populist party that won the second-most votes in Sweden’s general election last month snagged the chair of four parliamentary committees on Saturday and, with it, the ability to wield more power. influence on mainstream Swedish politics.
Positions to be held by lawmakers from the Swedish Democrats include chairing the Riksdag’s justice, foreign affairs, business affairs and labor market committees.
“It’s important for us, a milestone in the history of the party,” lawmaker Richard Jomshof, a Swedish Democrat tipped to be the next chairman of the justice committee, told Swedish public broadcaster SVT. “It’s an expression of the fact that we are the second largest party in Sweden.”
In addition to the four chairmanships, the party was allowed to appoint the vice-chairmen of the parliamentary committees for civil affairs, traffic, defense and taxation.
The Swedish Democrats, a nationalist and anti-immigration party rooted in the neo-Nazi movement, are part of the right-wing bloc that won a narrow majority in the Riksdag in the September 11 elections.
The decisions on the posts were announced Friday in a joint statement by the four center-right parties that are in talks to form a coalition government. The Swedish Democrats, who are among the four, announced their nominees on Saturday.
Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the centre-right Moderates, the third-placed party, has been tasked with forming a government likely to have Sweden’s Democrats as part of a coalition government or at least the party’s backing to get a majority in parliament.
Kristersson has until October 12 to present the results of his talks with the parties to the Speaker of Parliament, Andreas Norlen.
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