Örebro Party

The Örebro Party (Swedish: Örebropartiet, ÖP) is a local political party in Örebro, Sweden. Markus Allard is the party leader. According to Allard the party cannot be placed anywhere on the traditional left-right spectrum, and instead focuses on local issues. Some of its key issues include lowered wages for politicians, stricter migration policy, and free dental care.[1]

Örebro Party
Swedish nameÖrebropartiet
LeaderMarkus Allard
Founded2014
HeadquartersÖrebro
IdeologyLocalism
ColoursRed and black
County council
0 / 71
Municipal council
2 / 65
Website
www.orebropartiet.se

The party runs candidates for seats in the municipal assembly of Örebro Municipality and the Örebro County Council, and got two seats in the municipal council after the elections of 2018. Its symbol represents Svampen (The Mushroom), a water tower that is a prominent landmark in Örebro.

History

The initiative to found the Örebro Party was taken in early 2014 by Markus Allard, who is also the first party leader. Allard had previously held positions as substitute member of the Örebro municipal council and district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro; in December 2013 he was expelled from the Left Party and its youth wing Young Left for "liking" the Revolutionary Front, a militant revolutionary socialist and anti-fascist organization, on Facebook and refusing to disavow it when questioned.[2] Allard has stated that the real reason for his expulsion was that he was perceived as a threat to the established party bureaucracy.[3][4]

As a result of signing the petition required for ÖP to be registered as a party, a large number of Left Party members in Örebro were informed of the party's intention to expel them.[5] This triggered backlash from several other Left Party members in social media,[6] and a number of Left Party and Young Left members who had signed the petition later appeared on the party's list of election candidates while not joining ÖP as members. Throughout early 2014, several members of the Young Left were expelled for expressing support for Allard and his position on the Revolutionary Front, among them the writer Malcom Kyeyune[7] and Axel Frick, Allard's replacement as district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro and an Örebro Party candidate.[8]

In the September 2014 Swedish election, the party received 1,050 votes in the municipal council election in Örebro,[9][10] and also some write-in votes in Örebro County for the Riksdag.[11]

In February 2018 Peter Springare, an Örebro police officer, joined the party. He had attracted attention the previous year for a Facebook post about his experience with overrepresentation of violent crime among immigrants.[12][13]

In the 2018 election, the party gained two seats on the Örebro municipal council, where it is represented by Allard and Springare.[14] They subsequently gained representation on the Örebro municipal executive committee, with Allard as full-time municipal commissioner. In keeping with the party's policy against high political wages, he has been donating half of his monthly allowance to fund a planned series of social programmes. In August 2019 the party announced the first such project to be social pole-walking (sauvakävely) for pensioners.[15] During the Corona crisis the party has used this fund to provide face masks to municipal elderly care workers,[16] while heavily criticising what is perceived as a political gag-order on care workers regarding poor equipment and conditions.[17][18][19]

Since achieving municipal representation in 2018 the party has gotten considerable attention for Allards distinctly polemical debating-style in the municipal chamber, with a number of speeches going viral.[20][21][22] The party actively supports the creation of similar parties in other municipalities,[23] variously described as external branches of the Örebro party.[24]

Ideology

While party leader Allard has described himself as a Communist,[25] and a Marxist,[4][13] at its founding in March 2014 he defined the Örebro Party as "broad left".[25] At that time the party considered itself a "local party that wants to carry on the labour movement's ideals", and "not interested in administrating the current society".[26] In February 2018, Allard stated that having decided to focus on "down-to-earth and local issues", the party membership had broadened since its foundation and he would no longer characterize it as either left or right.[13]

The party is heavily opposed to political corruption and high politician incomes – among some of the measures it supports are reducing the wages of politicians and senior officials,[12] making plebiscites easier to enact and more potent,[27] increased social housing and subsidies for youth recreation,[12] and free dental care.[28] It advocates stricter migration policies, strong secularism, and assimilationist policies such as bussing young schoolchildren of Vivalla and immediate closure of the Islamic charter schools.[29][30][31] It opposes continued privatization of health care, elderly care, public housing and municipal education, among other things. During the 2018–2022 term the party has opposed prestige public projects it considers wasteful, such as the proposed Palace of Culture and Bus rapid transit.[32][33]

References
  1. "VÅR POLITIK | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  2. Carlsvärd, Mats (15 December 2013). "Markus Allard utesluten ur Ung vänster". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  3. Eriksson, Gustaf (7 March 2014). "Vänsterpartiet hotar utesluta medlemmar". Metro (in Swedish). Sweden. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  4. Berglin, Rikard (17 December 2013). "Ung vänster riskerar splittras om Markus Allard utesluts" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  5. Johansen, Marita (7 March 2014). "V sparkar ut ÖP-vänliga medlemmar". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  6. Green, Axel (14 March 2014). "13 i V i Örebro riskerar uteslutning". Arbetaren (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  7. "Stängs av från Ung vänster – Upsala Nya Tidning". unt.se (in Swedish). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  8. Rensfeldt, Gunnar (6 March 2014). "Militanta RF orsakar slitningar och uteslutningar i Ung Vänster" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  9. "Val till kommunfullmäktige i Örebro - Röster" (in Swedish). September 2014.
  10. Fredriksson, Kim (14 April 2015). "Före detta Ung Vänster-toppen Markus Allard: 'SD agerar som Vänsterpartiet'". Aktuellt Fokus (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  11. "Val till riksdagen - Röster - Örebro län: Röster på partier som ej beställt valsedlar - riksdagsvalkrets Örebro län" (in Swedish). September 2014.
  12. Forsberg, Oskar (8 February 2018). "Polisen Peter Springare blir politikernewspaper=Aftonbladet" (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  13. Lorentz, Elliot (8 February 2018). "Allard om Springares medlemskap i Örebropartiet: 'Han besitter en bred organisatorisk kompetens'". Nyheter Idag (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  14. "Örebro - Röster - Val 2018". data.val.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  15. "Örebropartiet söker intresserade för stavgångsprojekt för pensionärer! | Örebropartiet". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  16. "Vad händer när Örebropartiet delar ut skyddsutrustning till behövande? | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  17. "Springare JO-anmäler kommunledningen | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  18. www.na.se (7 May 2020). "Örebros försök att mörklägga information". na.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  19. Anders Nilsson 019-15 53 33 (30 April 2020). "NA:s chefredaktör om Örebros beslut att slopa meddelarfriheten: "Jag väntar på att ansvariga ska be de kommunanställda om ursäkt"". na.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  20. Nilsson, Johannes (24 October 2019). "Allards virala utskällning av politikerna: 'Ni vräker i er gräddtårta på skattebetalarnas bekostnad'". Nyheter Idag | By Johannes Nilsson (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  21. "Örebro kommun vill skära ner på färdtjänsten - då säger en förbannad lokalpolitiker vad han tycker". ViralKing.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  22. "Lars Ströman: Demokratin står inte så stark längre – den är hotad". na.se (in Swedish). 8 December 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  23. "Örebropartiet". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  24. "Fight Big-Tech Censorship with Low-Tech Retail Politics". The American Conservative. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  25. Berglin, Rikard (5 March 2014). "Markus Allard startar nytt parti". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  26. Lehnberg, Anne-Li (5 March 2014). "Allard bildar eget parti". Flamman (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  27. "VÅR POLITIK | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  28. "Tandvård | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  29. "Invandring | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  30. Radio, Sveriges. "Örebropartiet vill lägga ner Vivallaskolan - P4 Örebro". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  31. "Örebropartiet försökte stänga islamisternas förskolor – blev nedröstade… | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  32. "ÖP-MOTION: Stoppa Kulturkvarteret! | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  33. "Vi röstade NEJ till att slösa 1 miljard på "superbussar" | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
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