Swedish Green Party politicians in Eslöv have issued an apology after the local council group suggested forcing out Swedes critical of multiculturalism from the area, saying the proposals were just satire.
Rickard Sallermo, who serves as group leader for the Greens in the southern Swedish town, issued the apology after the Green group made a series of radical proposals that infuriated p0litical opponents and led to accusations of totalitarianism, Lokaltidningen Mellanskåne reports.
Taking a stab at the anti-mass migration Sweden Democrats, Lars Ahlfors, chairman of the local Greens said: “there is another party that wants to persuade immigrants to relocate. We think that if you do not enjoy multiculturalism, there should be an opportunity to give a helping hand to move.”
Aside from the proposal to “help” those who were against multiculturalism leave the town and move somewhere else, the Greens advocated all local schools to become totally atheist, admitting that it would mean no holidays over the Christmas period.
“There has been controversy concerning Muslims should get time off to celebrate Eid or Jews celebrating Hanukkah. If the school is atheist the problems do not exist, then it will be the same for everyone,” Ahlfors said.
“There have to be radical proposals to make a change. Basically, it is all about standing up for diversity and the equal worth of everyone. We ask ourselves instead when did it become a right to be xenophobic?” he added.
Local Social Democrat politician Henrik Månsson slammed the proposals, saying they were “a totalitarian and anti-democratic approach, focusing on major coercion measures against citizens.”
While Ahlfors initially insisted the policies were not satirical, the Greens later insisted it was all a joke, with Sallermo saying: “I regret what happened. The budget exercise that was submitted does not agree with the Green Party’s policy as a whole or party politics in Eslöv. Sarcasm is difficult in writing and the budget should never have been filed. We have clearly withdrawn it now.”
While the proposals were allegedly satire, they come after Sweden has seen many other radical proposals which have not been satire, including welcoming Islamic State fighters back to the country and offering them driving lessons and debt forgiveness, feminist snow ploughing, and allowing 9,000 “underage” Afghans to remain in the country despite 78 percent being shown to be adults.