After the Left Party was forced to withdraw its entire municipal election list in Sävsjö, a new one has now been presented. Seven of the eight candidates have Arabic names, and the top candidate on the list is a political newcomer who says he wants to contribute to “a better image of foreigners.”
The Left Party in Sävsjö was forced this week to withdraw its entire list for the municipal council, after the candidates were exposed as Hamas sympathizers and outspoken homophobes. On Friday, a new list was presented, which has already attracted attention: seven of the eight candidates have Arabic names.
The new top candidate on the list is Ahmad Alhindy, described as a 29-year-old data engineer who immigrated to Sweden in 2014 and now lives with his wife and children in Sävsjö. However, he does not work as a data engineer, but drives accessible transport vehicles.
– Politics is new to me, but I think Sweden is heading in the wrong direction, and I felt that it was time to try to change the situation, Alhindy tells SVT Nyheter.
Questions are now being raised on social media about how seven out of eight candidates can have an Arab background in such a small municipality, and why the Left Party is placing a person with no political experience at all in an electable position – a person who also says that he wants to contribute to “a better image of foreigners.”
Not an “optimal situation”
The chairman of the Left Party’s district board, Kristoffer Wolke, says that it has not been an “optimal situation” to find new candidates for the party’s lists so close to the election, but that it nevertheless feels good that the party has been able to present a list of eight candidates who have been vetted and approved.
Alhindy and the other seven candidates on the list are considered to have views and values that are in line with those of the party. Alhindy’s profile picture on social media, however, raises questions about whether there is any significant difference between him and the previous, now expelled, Left Party members.
Ahmad Alhindy’s Facebook page contains tributes to both Palestine and Allah. Photo: Screenshot Facebook/Ahmad Alhindy.
A critical voice focuses on Alhindy’s own words in a Facebook post:
“It is obvious as hell that Sweden has gone in the wrong direction. [—] Seven of the eight top candidates on the Left Party’s list in a municipality of around 11,000 inhabitants have Arabic names. It can hardly get more skewed than that,” the person writes, continuing:
“Either Swedes are a minority in their own country, or they simply cannot be bothered to take control of their own destiny. Whichever way you look at it, things have gone in the wrong direction.”
The new list
During the current electoral term, the Left Party holds one (1) of the 39 seats on the municipal council in Sävsjö Municipality. In the upcoming election, the following people will stand as candidates for the party:
1 Ahmad Alhindy, data engineer, Sävsjö
2 Marine Hanna Daoud, healthcare worker, Stockaryd
3 Aghyad Essa, student, Sävsjö
4 Loaee Hussein, healthcare worker, Sävsjö
5 Ahmed Rabee Naoura, hairdresser, Stockaryd
6 Saleha Alabboud, childcare worker, Sävsjö
7 Annika Rubensson Rosling, pensioner, Sävsjö
8 Rabee Alismaeel, cleaner, Sävsjö