In a statement, the Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Sweden (SKP) refers to the formation of the new government and the role of the Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) in it:
Jonas Sjöstedt has announced that his party, the Left Party, will abstain from voting in the vote for
prime minister. By abstaining, the party secures the government of Stefan Löfven and the Social
Democrats.
The Social Democrats have, together with the Liberals, the Center Party and the Greens agreed to an
aggressive programme that will mean harsh attacks against the working people of Sweden. The
abstention of the Left Party was crucial in allowing the programme to go through, as this meant that
a majority of the parliament tolerates the government, taking no active stance against it.
This means that the Left Party is complicit in paving the way for the most anti-worker and aggressive
governments in modern Sweden. It will be a government, whose purpose is to push through a larger
offensive against the working class and the working people in Sweden than what has been previously
carried out. By attacking the right to strike, destroying the labor legislation and enforcing higher
rents, hard blows will be dealt to the workers.
It is important for capital that it is the Social Democrats that carry out the attacks – they an passivize
a large part of the workers’ movement that otherwise would have been able to offer resistance. That
is why it is extra important for the Swedish capitalists to let this government through and that is why
the support of the Left Party is needed.
The purpose is the strengthen competitiveness of Swedish industry in a time when the international
contradictions between the large imperialist blocs are sharpening. By striking the workers in their
own countries, the capitalists are raising the margins of profit. This is a game that the Left Party is
playing. They will contribute to the strengthening of the competitiveness of the Swedish capitalists,
at the expense of the workers in Sweden.
Through an ugly and dishonest game, Sjöstedt is trying to portray the party as principled and honest.
He claims that if Stefan Löfven and his government will carry out attacks on the labor legislation or
raise the rents, the Left Party will spearhead a vote of confidence against the Social Democratic
government.
What he does not say is that to be able to launch such a vote, at least a tenth of the MPs in the
national parliament are needed. That means at least 35 MPs. Today, the Left Party has 28.
Would the party, against all odds, convince another seven MPs from other parties to support their
vote and in this way create a foundation for a vote of confidence, the vote still need the support of a
majority of the MPs of the parliament. The chance that the right-wing and conservative parties would
support a vote of confidence because of attacks on the labor legislation or the raising of rents is
minimal.
With the logic of the ”lesser evil” and the need to counter the Sweden Democrats, the Left Party has
paved the way for an anti-worker government and it has ensured it that it can carry out the attacks
that capital needs undisturbed – and these attacks will go beyond what previous governments have
done. To justify this, Sjöstedt is lying to the face of his supporters – there is no possibility for the Left
Party to prevent the government of carrying its program out.
The role of the Left Party is to strengthen the left front of capitalism. Before the elections,
dissatisfied and radical workers and ordinary people were lured into supporting the Left Party with
the help of radical rethorics. When the elections were over and the votes were secured, Sjöstedt did
not hesitate one second to support the Social Democrats and to channel the dissatisfaction with the
system, into a support of the system.
For those left in the Left Party, the choice is now simple: either leave the party in protest against the
anti-worker politics that the party is representing, or make a concious decision to stay in the party,
knowing the politics of the party. The support that the so-called ”radical left” offered the Left Party in
the elections has now been exposed for what it is: at best, naivety and at worst, ambidexterity and
complicity in the coming attacks.
Without its communist party, the people has no hope – this is something that the next four years will
be made clear. The attacks that will be carried out will clearly show the difference between the
communists and every other political orientation.
We therefore direct an appeal to the working people of Sweden: support the communists in the
work places, schools and universities – stand next to the communists, first in the struggle!
Executive Committee of the Communist Party of Sweden.
