New Democracy (Sweden)

Foundation Before New Democracy was formed, both founders Bert Karlsson and Ian Wachtmeister were well known in Sweden as charismatic public figures; Karlsson a self-made man, founder, owner and manager of both a record company and an amusement park; and Count Wachtmeister, a businessman from a highly esteemed aristocratic family. They had also been noted for some limited non-partisan political activity. Appearing on television on 23 November, a specially commissioned Sifo poll was announced where 23% of voters had responded that they could imagine voting for "Bert Karlsson's party". The party was given the name New Democracy on 1 December 1990, and was formally founded at a meeting in Skara on 4 February 1991 after having collected the required number of signatures for official registration. It held its first party conference on 1–2 June the same year. The first big setback for the party came when Karlsson appeared on the television program Magasinet. Wachtmeister and Karlsson for instance became known for illustrating their economic arguments by piling up empty beer crates. Alf Svensson of the Christian Democrats and Olof Johansson of the Centre Party followed shortly after. In the 1991 general election, the party won 6.7% of the vote and 25 seats. In the Riksdag, New Democracy abstained from voting on the office of Prime Minister, and thus gave the four-party liberal-conservative government led by Carl Bildt its indirect support. While Karlsson would appear in the chamber in inappropriate attire, Wachtmeister engaged more willfully in politics. By 1992, it became more clear that the party chose to campaign on a line of criticism of immigration; for instance demanding a decreased foreign aid, expulsion of immigrants committing crime, loans rather than grants and temporary residence permits instead of asylum. In early 1994, the party started to initiate cooperation with parties such as the Sweden Democrats, the Sjöbo Party and the Centre Democrats. The 1994 general election became a huge failure for the party, as it received only 1.4% of the vote and lost all its seats. The party failed to attract enough votes for representation in the Riksdag and was dissolved. The 1998 elections saw New Democracy losing all but one of its municipal representatives. The party ceased to exist when it was declared bankrupt on 25 February 2000. Laholm city council representative Elver Åkesson retained his seat until the 2002 elections, the last active member of the party to hold office. "New Democracy" was founded again in April 2002 under a new organisational registration, and attempted to run for the 2002 elections, but received a mere 106 votes nationwide. The party's website was shut down in March 2005. ==Ideology==

Unlike other right-wing populist parties, New Democracy saw economic issues as superior and more important than cultural issues. In its introduction, the party program asserted that it would always base its policies on common sense, personal liberty and consideration for others. In addition, twice as many people as actually voted for the party, nevertheless approved of its asylum policies. Taxes The party set out a plan to reduce the overall taxation in Sweden from 57% (which it was in 1989), to 47% within six years, as it cited the average overall taxation in the OECD countries to be 37% the same time. It sought to reduce public expenses, sell state-owned properties and abolish state monopolies. The party competed with the Moderate Party on how steep tax cuts should be, and sought to "outbid" them. Foreign policy The party saw it as "obvious" for Sweden to join the European Union, and wanted to relinquish Sweden's policy of neutrality. It wanted Sweden's foreign policy to mainly concern itself with relations with Sweden's "real neighbours," which it regarded to be; Denmark, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Poland and Russia, as well as its trading partners in Europe and North America. It also wanted to stop foreign aid to oppressive regimes, particularly socialist ones, and instead give aid for humanitarian efforts and emergency aid, as it wanted to "help people, not governments." Law and order The party wanted to invest heavily in the fight against drug abuse and street violence, and impose severe penalties for what it called related "gangster activity." It wanted to implement harder punishments for violent crime, and life imprisonment for the most dangerous criminals. Immigration The party's anti-immigration stance was largely argued on economic terms, most often by comparing immigration costs and tax-cuts, although welfare chauvinism also sometimes was an element. The party wanted to introduce temporary residence permits for refugees, and that those who were allowed to stay should immediately be assimilated into Swedish society. The party's anti-immigration stance escalated during its term in the Riksdag. In the party's 1993 summer camp, Vivianne Franzén (who became party leader in 1994) described a murder committed by a mentally ill immigrant as a Muslim ritual murder, and also warned that Swedish school children soon would have to turn towards Mecca. ==International relations==

Although typically compared to the parties, New Democracy officially distanced itself from both the right-wing populist Danish Progress Party and the Norwegian Progress Party. ==Election results==

Parliament (Riksdag) Municipal councils European Parliament ==Party leaders==

• Bert Karlsson (1991) • Count Ian Wachtmeister (1991–1994) • (1994) • Vivianne Franzén (1994–1997) • (1997) • John Bouvin (1997–1998) • (1998–1999) • (1999–2000) == See also ==