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The issue of refugees has been central to Swedish politics for the last decade. According to Göran Persson, the popular dissatisfaction that paved the way for SD can be traced back to a neoliberal and open vision of migration.
He points to the free movement of workers within the EU as a kind of starting point, where S and M have since struggled to change course towards more controlled immigration.
– I warned about this after the enlargement of the EU. I called it social tourism, which can be difficult to manage. He wanted a seven-year transition period when the EU opened up as a labor market, but was defeated in the Riksdag. The Center Party changed its footsteps, and since then we have had a predominance of people who think that whoever wants to can come here. It doesn’t hold up, although I can sympathize with the idea. It went wrong there, says Göran Persson on the Tidens podcast.
Opens for volume targets
The former prime minister believes that Sweden can only take responsibility for many asylum seekers, provided other EU countries do the same. It also opens up to any kind of volume target or benchmark.
– We must have some kind of order applied. Either he sat in numbers or from a different starting point. When immigration is managed properly, it has been of great benefit to Sweden. There is room for more, but in an orderly and controlled way.
Persson also believes that the Swedish grant system for newcomers should be limited. During last year’s work within the Migration Committee, SD, M and C have lobbied for newcomers to qualify for welfare systems, but after divisive internal discussions in the government, S and MP decided not to go ahead with the topic.
– You need a workplace to go to, and maybe also a waiting period before you have access to all the rights that we have built, the ones that we have been here all our lives. If it’s available from day one, it will be eroded, says Göran Persson on the podcast.
“SD will fall apart”
Despite the fact that the majority of the Swedish Riksdag today is on the right, Göran Persson believes that the majority of the population is still on the left. SD voters who really disapprove of right-wing politics will eventually find their way back to S, if distribution issues are allowed to be at the center, says the former prime minister.
– I think we have parked perhaps ten percent of our electorate in the Swedish Democrats, and we will get them back if we pursue an active fair distribution policy. SD no longer claims to speak for ordinary people, it follows a right-wing policy around, for example, labor legislation that is light years away from the interests of ordinary people. SD’s problem is that the closer they get to power, the more they will tear themselves apart.
