The Swedish Social Democrats have had to remove a parliamentary candidate from their national election list only days before the vote after they claimed Islamic law was more important than Swedish law.
The candidate, who was running in the municipality of Karlshamn in the south of the country, was deselected by the party after he was reported as making several controversial statements on the topic of Islam, Swedish broadcaster SVT reports.
“He has said things like Islamic rules are more important than Swedish rules,” commented Per-Ola Matsson, Social Democrat group leader for Karlshamn. His statements are said to have been linked to the debate on the wearing of veils by women, the full face version of which was recently banned by neighbouring Denmark.
The man also allegedly spoke of changing childcare rules which could make it harder for the state to take care of sick children.
“To say in an election campaign that children should not be taken care of or that Arab women should wear the veil is not in line with the social democratic values of gender equality. We cannot accept that,” Matsson claimed.
Matsson added that many of the man’s statements had been made in Arabic, saying they had “confirmed the picture of what the man has said” through two interpreters who “independently translate[d] texts and an interview where he makes such statements.”
The incident comes only a week after it was revealed that another Social Democrat candidate had been making false claims and spreading lies about the anti-mass migration Sweden Democrats and the Moderate Party in Arabic on social media.
The Moderate Party was also caught up in a potential scandal involving members of the Muslim community when it was revealed this week that leaders of the Alby Mosque in Botkyrka offered the party 3,000 votes in exchange for approval of building permits.
Moderate Party councillor Stina Lundgren, who took part in the meeting, claimed the proposal was immediately rejected and expressed shock. The meeting was facilitated by a member of the left-wing Green Party named Ali Khalil, who was later removed by the party when secret recordings of him emerged.
In the recordings, Khalil said: “People visit the mosque every Friday, and this audience is very responsive to the Imam. Once he says ‘It’s our judgment that the Conservatives are the best choice for us, they are listening to our problems, they have promised to fight them and secure our existence,’ then the people will do it.”
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com