STOCKHOLM — It would have just been a domestic political crisis at any other time in Sweden: a high-ranking cabinet member faces a vote of no confidence from a disaffected opposition and a vow from his party to support him.
But an attempt by right-wing lawmakers to oust Sweden’s justice minister over rising gun violence has become embroiled in geopolitics, complicating the country’s application to join NATO after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s government averted a political crisis on Tuesday when a lawmaker of Iranian Kurdish descent abstained from the vote of no confidence after assuring that Sweden would not bow to Turkish demands over a Swedish bid to join the alliance. This left the opposition one vote behind the majority needed to remove Justice Secretary Morgan Johansson.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to block Sweden and Finland from joining NATO, criticizing the nations for housing Kurdish militants he considers his country’s main enemy and whom he has branded “terrorists”. .
The latest round of political instability started after Sweden’s far-right parties accused the center-left government of failing to tackle the country’s rising gun violence and crime, linking it to rising immigration levels, and calling on Mr Johansson to resign. Conservative parties also supported the vote of no confidence.
“Sweden has turned into a gangster country,” said Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the far-right Swedish Democrat Party. on Twitter† “Insecurity is increasing and gang crime is anything but solved.”
The government has said it viewed the vote against Johansson as a vote against, with Ms. Andersson promised to resign if the attempt were successful. The government said it had already strengthened the police force and tackled the crime in recent years, including a series of new measures after riots between far-right extremists and their opponents injured several police officers in April.
“We are in a very sensitive position for our NATO application – along with Finland.” Ms Andersson said Thursday, calling the attempted mistrust “completely irresponsible.”
She added: “We are not in a position to play political games in Sweden. It’s dangerous.”
Jonas Hinnfors, a political scientist at the University of Gothenburg, said that with Swedes heading to the polls for September’s general election, the opposition was taking a calculated risk against a weak coalition government. “It’s a way for the opposition to show that it is a fragile government with elections coming up.”
With the votes for and against the vote of no confidence split, the deciding vote for a majority was left to an independent legislator, Amineh Kakabaveh, a Swede of Iranian Kurdish descent and a former Kurdish fighter, who demanded that the government not capitulate to Turkey. .
Ms Kakabaveh said in an interview that she wanted to put pressure on the government not to give in to Mr Erdogan’s demands and stand up for Sweden’s values of human rights and independence.
Her decision to abstain came after the government said it would support Kurdish militias in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.
Erdogan wants Sweden to cut ties with fighters in Syria affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which seeks an independent Kurdish state in areas partly within Turkey’s borders.
The United States and the European Union have labeled the PKK as a terrorist organization, although governments such as Sweden are more sympathetic and view it as a Kurdish nationalist movement.
“Foreign power should not decide who sits in Swedish government or Swedish sovereignty, Swedish laws and Swedish values,” said Ms Kakabaveh, who is known in Sweden as a prominent feminist who signed an agreement last November to replace Ms Andersson’s leadership. supports. That was in return for assurances that the government would work with the Syrian Democratic Union Party, a Kurdish left-wing group, to work, among other things, on the release of imprisoned Kurdish politicians in Turkey.
“Her agenda has always been for the Kurdish groups that have fought against Daesh and against Turkey in various ways,” said political scientist Mr Hinnfors, using an Arabic acronym of Islamic State.
He said Ms Kakabaveh, who was originally elected with the left-wing party before gaining independence – and will not run for a seat without party membership – was trying to make the most of her remaining time as a legislator. “Some kind of appeasement from Erdogan is probably in Sweden’s interest to secure NATO application,” he said. “But it would be against her best interests.”
Christina Anderson reported from Stockholm, and Isabella Kwai from London.