Skånepartiet ("the Scania party") is a

separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...

right-wing populist Right-wing populism, also called national populism and right-wing nationalism, is a political ideology that combines right-wing politics and populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric employs anti- elitist sentiments, opposition to the Establ ...

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

anti-immigration Opposition to immigration, also known as anti-immigration, has become a significant political ideology in many countries. In the modern sense, immigration refers to the entry of people from one state or territory into another state or territory ...

political party in the

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 in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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

, established in 1979. The founder and leader of the party was Carl P. Herslow. The original aims of the party were the abolition of the Swedish

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

of the radio and television market, and

self-government __NOTOC__ Self-governance, self-government, or self-rule is the ability of a person or group to exercise all necessary functions of regulation without intervention from an external authority. It may refer to personal conduct or to any form of ...

for Skåne. Originally it advocated full

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

for Skåne as a

republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

, but later altered this to instead back

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

within the Swedish state. Recently however the party has again restated a desire for full

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

. It started criticizing Swedish

immigration policy Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it a ...

in the mid-1980s, and since the 2000s has focused heavily on an aggressive campaign against

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. Its support has shrunk over recent years and it was until its dissolution not represented in any council, losing its last local seats in the 2006 election.

History

The party was founded on 24 March 1979 in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

. Based on the Scania Movement ("Skånerörelsen") founded in 1977, its initial main issues was to achieve regional autonomy for Scania, particularly regarding the

mass media Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information ...

, alcohol, energy, tourism and education policy. It ran in the 1979 election on three main issues; a Scanian provincial government, an independent advertising-funded Scanian TV channel with broadcasting associations, and the free sale of beer, wine, and liquor in Scania. The election was however ultimately a failure for the party. It started local

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

broadcasts in 1982. Although the party had put in much work for the 1982 election, it again failed to win any representation. By 1984 the party reportedly had more than 4,000 members and had expanded its radio broadcasts. It had also become more radical, now demanding that Scania become an independent

. The party also started to criticize the economic, social and cultural consequences of Swedish immigration policy. In the 1985 election the party finally broke through, and helped to remove the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

from power 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 populat ...

for the first time in 66 years, winning five mandates. It also gained representation in a few other municipalities. In the 1988 election the party was reduced to three mandates in Malmö and lost its representation in all other municipalities except one. The party held municipal seats only in Malmö through the 1990s. In the late 2000s the party has failed to win any representation, and has been marginalized by the advancing

Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats ( sv , Sverigedemokraterna ; SD ) is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden. As of 2022, it is the largest member of Sweden's right-wing governing bloc to which it provides confidence and supply, a ...

in competition for votes. On June 30, 2020, in what was to be announced by Herslow as the final radio transmissions, it was revealed that both the party and the radio transmissions would be dissolved due to the lack of staff. However, on July 2 both the party and the radio transmissions was resumed.

Policies

The party states on its website that its policy is based on the two main demands of "more restrictive immigration and refugee policies, and the elimination of

." It further promotes 12 key policies; # Scania to become a free republic, a member of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

# cessation of

immigration 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, and ...

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

and similar #

to be eliminated;

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

must move to Sweden (i.e. out of Scania) # all pension promises to be unconditionally fulfilled # more money to healthcare, the elderly and disabled # utilize both reactors at the

Barsebäck nuclear power plant Barsebäck () is a Boiling water reactor, boiling water nuclear power plant currently undergoing the process of nuclear decommissioning. The plant is situated in Barsebäck, Kävlinge Municipality, Skåne, Sweden. Located 20 kilometers from the ...

# pupils must have respect for teachers and adults # better crimefighting by stricter sentencing and an increase in police numbers #

liberalise Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...

the labour market, stop

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...

fraud # reduce the

tax burden In economics, tax incidence or tax burden is the effect of a particular tax on the distribution of economic welfare. Economists distinguish between the entities who ultimately bear the tax burden and those on whom tax is initially imposed. The t ...

when Scania's state debt is paid # abolish the state alcohol monopoly administered by

Systembolaget (, "the System Company"), colloquially known as ("the system") or ("the company"), is a government-owned chain of liquor stores in Sweden. It is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol by ...

# stop the "

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

radio and television empire"

Election results

Local representation

1985 election: 5 seats in

, 2 in Burlöv, 2 in

Svedala Svedala (, outdatedly ; is a locality and the seat of Svedala Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is t ...

, 1 in

Staffanstorp Staffanstorp is a locality and the seat of Staffanstorp Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 14,808 inhabitants in 2010. Staffanstorp is the largest Scanian settlement never to acquire town privileges before 1971, when they were abolished in ...

and 1 in

Vellinge Vellinge is a locality and the seat of Vellinge Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of ...

. 1988 election: 3 seats in Malmö and 1 in Staffanstorp. 1991 election: 2 seats in Malmö. 1994 election: 3 seats in Malmö. 1998 election: 2 seats in Malmö. 2002 election: 2 seats in Malmö. 2006 election: 0 seats. 2010 election: 0 seats. 2014 election: 0 seats (0.33% share of the votes for the Skåne County Council and 0.6% share of the votes in municipal elections) 2018 election: 0 seats

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scania Party Political parties established in 1979 Minor political parties in Sweden Far-right politics in Sweden Anti-Islam political parties in Europe Scania Separatism in Sweden