Lars-Magnus Harald Christoffer Ohly (; born 13 January 1957) is a Swedish politician, and the former
party chairman of the Swedish
Left Party. He was a member of the
Swedish parliament
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and s ...
from 1998 to 2014.
Early life and career
Lars Ohly was born in the
Spånga
Spånga is a community and parish in the borough of Spånga-Tensta in Stockholm County, Sweden.
Background
Spånga was an independent municipality until January 1, 1949 when most of it was merged with the City of Stockholm, with smaller por ...
suburb of
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. His father, like all his forefathers for six generations, was a priest. He grew up in various places around Stockholm. After finishing his ''
gymnasium'' (secondary) education in 1978, he started working at
Statens Järnvägar
The Swedish State Railways ( sv, Statens Järnvägar) or SJ, originally the Royal Railway Board ( sv, Kungl. Järnvägsstyrelsen), was the former government agency responsible for operating the state-owned railways in Sweden.
It was created i ...
(Swedish State Railways), where he later became a
conductor ( sv, tågmästare). He is still employed at SJ, but is on leave of absence since 1994.
Ohly became a member of the
Liberal Youth of Sweden
The Liberal Youth of Sweden ( sv, Liberala ungdomsförbundet, LUF) is the youth wing of the Swedish Liberals. The Liberal Youth of Sweden has a long tradition of international cooperation and is a full member of the International Federation of ...
, the youth wing of the
Liberal People's Party, in 1970, but left shortly afterwards, and became a communist. He joined the
Communist Youth in 1978, and the
Left Party in 1979. He became a member of board of the Communist Youth in 1980, was elected as a substitute of the party board in 1987, and became a full member of the party board in 1990. From 1994 to 2000, he was
party secretary, and in 2004, he was elected
party chairman. He has been a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
since 1998.
Lars Ohly was in 2008 nominated for the award ''Kurd friend of the year'' (Swedish: Årets kurdvän 2008). ''Årets kurdvän'' is one of the awards presented annually by the Kurdish gala jury that celebrates the active and successful Kurds and friends of Kurds in Sweden.
In August 2011, Ohly announced his resignation. He was elected party chairman on 20 February 2004, succeeding
Ulla Hoffmann
Ulla Hoffmann (born 31 March 1942) is a Swedish Left Party ( sv, Vänsterpartiet) politician. Hoffmann was interim party leader for a short while in 2003 following the resignation of party leader Gudrun Schyman. Gudrun Schyman was forced to resig ...
.
In November 2017, Ohly was banned from attending Left Party events, including the party congress, after allegations of
sexual harassment
Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...
towards women. He left the party in January 2018.
Controversies
Nacka Skoglund
During his first weeks as party chairman, Ohly claimed in an interview to once have, as a boy, played
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
against Swedish football legend
Nacka Skoglund
Karl Lennart "Nacka" Skoglund (; 24 December 1929 – 8 July 1975) was a Swedish footballer who played as left winger. He began his career in his home country with Hammarby IF, but later played for several Italian clubs, most notably Inter Milan ...
in a friendly match. The newspaper ''
Dagens Nyheter
''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record.
History and profile
''Da ...
'' later revealed that this claim was most likely fictitious. When confronted about this, Ohly claimed it to be an indeliberate error on his part.
Being a communist or not
Lars Ohly used to be an outspoken communist. On 5 October 2005, ''
Uppdrag granskning
''Uppdrag granskning'' (English name: ''Mission: Investigate'') is a Swedish television program focusing on investigative journalism. The program is produced by and aired on SVT and has become known for the use of concealed cameras and microphone ...
'' in
Sveriges Television
Sveriges Television AB ("Sweden's Television Stock Company"), shortened to SVT (), is the Sweden, Swedish national public broadcasting, public television broadcaster, funded by a public service tax on personal income set by the Riksdag (national ...
(the Swedish
public service
A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
television) aired a programme about Lars Ohly's background and views on
democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
. In the programme, Ohly was accused of trying to rewrite his own history and of hiding his past. Several quotes by Ohly were found where he defended the political systems of the
Eastern bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. Several prominent party members, among them former party leader
Lars Werner
Lars Helge Werner (25 July 1935 – 11 January 2013) was a Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily ...
, also witnessed about Ohly's views. It was also found that, in 2000, Ohly had reworded a letter of apology to the "
Kiruna-Swedes" - victims of harassment from the Left Party after their return home from
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
custody - with a number of critical references to
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
being removed. The programme also showed that Ohly branded himself as a
Leninist
Leninism is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary vanguard party as the political prelude to the establishme ...
as late as 1999.
Following this controversy, the leaders of all the other parliamentary parties have urged Ohly to drop his adherence to communism. On 30 October 2005, Ohly declared on Swedish TV that he would stop labeling himself a communist. But he stressed at the same time that he would stay faithful to the ideals of communism and always would keep fighting for a "
classless society
The term classless society refers to a society in which no one is born into a social class. Distinctions of wealth, income, education, culture, or social network might arise and would only be determined by individual experience and achievement ...
".
Swedish-Cuban Association
During the controversy regarding Ohly's views on communism and his definition of
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
and socialist leadership, Ohly's membership in the
Swedish-Cuban Association became known. The Swedish-Cuban Association supported the government of
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
in
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
and does not want to label the country as a
dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...
. Ohly then released a statement that he considers Cuba to be a dictatorship and that he is critical of the lack of
political freedom
Political freedom (also known as political autonomy or political agency) is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies.Hannah Arendt, "What is Freedom?", ''Between Past and F ...
in Cuba, a statement which in response was criticized by the chairman of the Swedish-Cuban Association. In September 2005, Ohly declared that he had left the organisation.
Middle finger during a live debate
During a live debate on Swedish
TV4 TV4 or TV 4 may refer to:
*TV4 (Poland), a private Polish television station
*TV4 (Sweden), a Swedish television network
**TV4 Group, owners of the Swedish television station
*South African Broadcasting Corporation TV4, a channel operated by the st ...
on 18 September 2006, the day after the
Swedish general election, Ohly caused some controversy when he
showed the middle finger to the right-wing commentator
Marie Söderqvist for calling his leadership style typical of a communist. Ohly later apologized and said that he experienced a "temporary
blackout".
Choosing private welfare
Ohly is strongly opposed to letting privately owned companies operate in industries traditionally controlled by the Swedish state, for instance
education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
and
healthcare
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
. However, both his children go to
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
s. Ohly says his children made their choices based on what was best for them, independent of his views on the matter. In 2010, he chose to have his
meniscus
Meniscus may refer to:
*Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity
*Meniscus (liquid)
The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...
surgery at the
private hospital
A private hospital is a hospital not owned by the government, including for-profits and non-profits. Funding is by patients themselves ("self-pay"), by insurers, or by foreign embassies. Private hospitals are commonly part, albeit in varying degr ...
Sophiahemmet
Sophiahemmet is a private hospital at Norra Djurgården in Stockholm, Sweden. It is associated with the Sophiahemmet University College. Its connection with the royal family goes back to 1884 when nursing education sponsored by Queen Sophia was ...
. A fan of
leasehold estate
A leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to hold land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord. Although a tenant does hold rights to real property, a l ...
s over
condominium
A condominium (or condo for short) is an ownership structure whereby a building is divided into several units that are each separately owned, surrounded by common areas that are jointly owned. The term can be applied to the building or complex ...
s, Ohly himself made a considerable profit from a four-room condominium in the
Stockholm City Centre
Stockholm City Centre (''Stockholms innerstad'', ''Innerstaden'', ''Inre staden'') is in Stockholm Municipality, also known as the City of Stockholm, part of the Stockholm urban area in Sweden.
Since 2007, Stockholm City Centre has been organize ...
which he bought in 2006 and sold in 2010.
Reacting to the fall of Communism
Ohly is often cited to have said he cried tears of sadness when learning of the tearing down of the
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the government ...
. In September 2010, he claimed this a false quote political opponents and
op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
writers (primarily
Peter Wolodarski
Peter Wolodarski (born 15 April 1978) is a Swedish journalist and television host. He has been the editor of the Stockholm-based ''Dagens Nyheter'' since 10 March 2013.
Early life
Wolodarski was born in Stockholm. His father, architect and town ...
, political editor at
Dagens Nyheter
''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record.
History and profile
''Da ...
) keep attributing to him. When reporter
Janne Josefsson
Jan Christer Ragnar Josefsson (born 27 June 1952) is a Swedish investigative journalist who has had numerous shows on Sveriges Television such as Fittja Paradiso, Uppdrag Granskning and Debatt. Uppdrag Granskning has uncovered some of Sweden's mo ...
of
Uppdrag Granskning
''Uppdrag granskning'' (English name: ''Mission: Investigate'') is a Swedish television program focusing on investigative journalism. The program is produced by and aired on SVT and has become known for the use of concealed cameras and microphone ...
confronted him with an interview clip from 2004 where the statement was uttered, Ohly refused to watch it. Instead, he claimed to have been happy about the events at the time, mentioning that his best friend had sent him a joyous message from
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
in 1989 when the city
was being liberated. He initially claimed to have received an
SMS message
Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
from his friend, which was impossible, since
the world's first text message was sent in 1992. He later claimed that he actually spoke to his friend by phone.
References
External links
Lars Ohlyat the
Left Party's website
Lars Ohlyat the
Swedish parliament
The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and s ...
's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohly, Lars
1957 births
20th-century atheists
21st-century atheists
Conductor (rail)
European democratic socialists
Leaders of political parties in Sweden
Living people
Male feminists
Members of the Riksdag 1998–2002
Members of the Riksdag 2002–2006
Members of the Riksdag 2006–2010
Members of the Riksdag 2010–2014
Members of the Riksdag from the Left Party (Sweden)
Politicians from Stockholm
Socialist feminists
Swedish atheists
Swedish communists
Swedish feminists
Swedish republicans