The Nuance Party ( sv, Partiet Nyans) is a political party in Sweden founded in 2019. According to national broadcaster Sveriges Television (SVT), the party aims mainly at the country's Muslim population.

History

The Nuance Party was founded in August 2019 by Mikail Yüksel, a Turkish-born politician who had been expelled from the Centre Party for alleged links to the Turkish ultranationalist group the

Grey Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

. In his founding statement, he said that

Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...

should be a criminal offence, and that Sweden's Muslims should have a constitutional definition as a minority. The party was officially launched in September 2019 and registered with Sweden's Election Authority on 31 October 2019 to contest the

2022 Swedish general election General elections were held in Sweden on 11 September 2022 to elect the 349 members of the Riksdag who in turn elected the Prime Minister of Sweden. Under the constitution, regional and municipal elections were also held on the same day. The pr ...

, as well as the 2024 European Parliament election in Sweden. ''

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 ' ...

'', Sweden's newspaper of record, reported in July 2022 that one in every seven of the party's electoral candidates was a convicted criminal. One of these, Bashir Aman Ali, received a 4.5-year prison sentence for financial crime, having used 10 million Swedish krona from an educational organisation to start an

Islamic bank Islamic banking, Islamic finance ( ar, مصرفية إسلامية), or Sharia-compliant finance is banking or financing activity that complies with Sharia (Islamic law) and its practical application through the development of Islamic economic ...

; he was accused by politicians from other parties of spreading conspiracy theories during the campaign, as he falsely claimed that Sweden can imprison Muslims for up to a year without trial or evidence. In August 2022,

Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous with Skåne ...

newspapers ''

Helsingborgs Dagblad ''Helsingborgs Dagblad'' (''HD'', lit. "Helsingborg's Daily Paper"), published in Helsingborg in Skåne is the largest (circ. 84.000) newspaper in Swedish outside the metropolitan districts of Malmö, Göteborg and Stockholm. History and pro ...

'' and '' Sydsvenskan'' found that five of Nuance's 25 candidates in the county had spread hate speech about Jews and

Shia Muslims Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagin ...

, or

9/11 conspiracy theories 9/11 conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government ...

. Three of the candidates were expelled due to the findings.

Platform

The Nuance Party accuses Swedish social services of forcing Muslim children into

foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

and assimilation, accusations which have been picked up by foreign broadcasters including

TRT World TRT World is a Turkish public broadcaster international news channel which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day, operated by the TRT and based in Taksim Square, Istıklal Avenue, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. It provides worldwide news and current affai ...

and

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

and rejected as false in Sweden. The party supports criminalising

Quran desecration Quran desecration is the treatment of the Quran, in its original Arabic form, in a way that might be considered disrespectful or insulting. Respect for the Quran as a holy book, as in other faiths, is an important element of religious faith in ...

, such as the public burnings by activist Rasmus Paludan that preceded the 2022 Sweden riots that April. The party put up a billboard in

Kulu, Konya Kulu is a town and district of Konya Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. According to the 2011 census, the population of the district is 55,573 and 22,844 of that number live in the town of Kulu. Kulu is situated approximately 110&n ...

, the place of origin of most of Sweden's Turks, including Yüksel. The billboard described it as "the only Turkey-friendly party that distances itself from terrorist organisations". Sofie Blombäck, a political scientist from

Mid Sweden University Mid Sweden University (''Mittuniversitetet'') is a Swedish state university located in the region around the geographical center of Sweden, with two campuses in the cities of Östersund and Sundsvall. The university closed a third campus in H ...

, said that the party was unusual in that religious-based parties are rare in Sweden; the

Christian Democrats __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social ...

is a party smaller than in other nations. Blombäck compared the Nuance Party to

DENK Denk may refer to: People *Jeremy Denk (born 1970), American classical pianist * Michael K. Denk, Canadian professor of chemistry * Paula Denk (1908–1978), German actress *Ralph Denk (born 1973), German cyclist and cycling manager *Ulrike Denk ( ...

, a minority-focused party in the Netherlands, and said that while it could possibly enter local politics in Malmö, it was unlikely to enter the Riksdag.

Party goals

These are some of the party goals listed on the Nuance Party's official website: * Abolish employment fees for new

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

and people under the age of 25 * Anonymous application for rental homes * Compulsory Swedish-language education for new immigrants * Criminalize Bosnian genocide denial * Fight racism * Increase government funding of religious organizations * Race-based affirmative action in both public and private job sectors * Reduce VAT rates by 50% * Recognize Muslims and

blacks Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

as official minority groups * Sanction countries that do not take in refugees * Sanction

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and create a

Palestinian Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...

state * The right to receive news from authorities in foreign languages

Results

In the

, the Nuance Party came ninth with 0.44% of the vote, the highest of any party that did not enter parliament. The party claimed 2.1% of the vote in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal pop ...

, 1.14% in Gothenburg and 0.76% in Stockholm. Some analysts have seen the rise of the Nuance Party as one of the causes of the losses in the left bloc. The party received 2.44% of the votes in

Landskrona Municipality Landskrona Municipality (''Landskrona kommun'') is a municipality in Scania County in Sweden. Its seat is located in the city of Landskrona. The island of Ven was added to the ''City of Landskrona'' in 1959. The amalgamations leading to the pre ...

election, and 2.03% of the votes in

Botkyrka Municipality Botkyrka Municipality ( ) is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital Stockholm. Its seat is located in the town of Tumba. In 1971 ''Grödinge'' was merged with Botkyrka and in 1974 ''Salem'' was added. ...

, putting them above the 2% minimum needed for a seat on the councils.

References

{{political parties in Sweden 2019 establishments in Sweden Anti-racism in Sweden Anti-Zionism in Sweden Identity politics Islam in Sweden Islamic organizations based in Sweden Islamism in Sweden Middle Eastern diaspora in Sweden Minor political parties in Sweden Minority rights Multiculturalism in Europe Political parties established in 2019 Political parties of minorities Turkish diaspora in Europe Turkish political parties

History

Platform

Party goals

Results

See also

References