Örebro Party

The Örebro Party (Swedish: Örebropartiet, ÖP) is a local political party in Örebro, Sweden. Markus Allard is the party leader. According to Allard the party cannot be placed anywhere on the traditional left-right spectrum, and instead focuses on local issues. Some of its key issues include lowered wages for politicians, stricter migration policy, and free dental care.[3]

Örebro Party
Örebropartiet
AbbreviationÖP[1] or ÖrP[2]
LeaderMarkus Allard
Founded2014 (2014)
Split fromLeft Party
HeadquartersÖrebro
IdeologyLocalism
Anti-corruption
Secularism
Colours
  •   Red
  •   Black
County council
3 / 71
Municipal council
5 / 65
Website
orebropartiet.se

The party runs candidates for seats in the municipal assembly of Örebro Municipality and the Örebro County Council. Since the 2022 elections, it has five seats in the municipal assembly and three in the regional assembly. Its symbol represents Svampen (The Mushroom), a water tower that is a prominent landmark in Örebro.

History

Split from the left

The initiative to found the Örebro Party was taken in early 2014 by Markus Allard, who is also the first party leader. Allard had previously held positions as substitute member of the Örebro municipal council and district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro; in December 2013 he was expelled from the Left Party and its youth wing Young Left for "liking" the Revolutionary Front, a militant revolutionary socialist and anti-fascist organization, on Facebook and refusing to disavow it when questioned.[4] Allard has stated that the real reason for his expulsion was that he was perceived as a threat to the established party bureaucracy.[5][6]

While Allard has described himself as a Communist,[7] and a Marxist,[6][8] at its founding in March 2014 he defined the Örebro Party as "broad left".[7] At that time the party considered itself a "local party that wants to carry on the labour movement's ideals", and "not interested in administrating the current society".[9]

As a result of signing the petition required for ÖP to be registered as a party, a large number of Left Party members in Örebro were informed of the party's intention to expel them.[10] This triggered backlash from several other Left Party members in social media,[11] and a number of Left Party and Young Left members who had signed the petition later appeared on the party's list of election candidates while not joining ÖP as members. Throughout early 2014, several members of the Young Left were expelled for expressing support for Allard and his position on the Revolutionary Front, among them the writer Malcom Kyeyune[12] and Axel Frick, Allard's replacement as district chairman of the Young Left in Örebro and an Örebro Party candidate.[13]

In the September 2014 Swedish election, the party received 1,050 votes in the municipal council election in Örebro,[14][15] and also some write-in votes in Örebro County for the Riksdag.[16]

Entering the municipal assembly

In February 2018, Allard stated that having decided to focus on "down-to-earth and local issues", the party membership had broadened since its foundation and he would no longer characterize it as either left or right.[8] The same month Peter Springare, an Örebro police officer, joined the party. He had attracted attention the previous year for a Facebook post about his experience with overrepresentation of violent crime among immigrants.[17][8]

In the 2018 election, the party gained two seats on the Örebro municipal council, where it is represented by Allard and Springare.[18] They subsequently gained representation on the Örebro municipal executive committee, with Allard as full-time municipal commissioner. Since achieving municipal representation in 2018 the party has gotten considerable attention for Allard's distinctly polemical debating-style in the municipal chamber, with a number of speeches going viral.[19][20][21]

2021 bus rapid transit petition

During 2021, the Örebro Party participated in a petition campaign demanding a public plebiscite on the planned introduction of bus rapid transit alongside the Liberal Party, the Sweden Democrats and local groups.[22] In October of that year the group turned in 15 500 signatures to the municipality, well over the statutory limit required to call a plebiscite In Örebro according to Swedish law.[23] The municipality would subsequently disqualify around a third of the signatures, resulting in the petition falling short such that no vote would be held.[24]

The municipality's assessment process has been heavily criticized by the Örebro Party for being co-led by an elected Social Democratic politician, repeated inconsistencies in the several rounds of recounting as well as systematic irregularities in the transcription of personal identity numbers allegedly found by the Örebro Party in their own audit.[25][26][27][28] This criticism has led to comparisons between the party and former US president Donald Trump in Swedish national media[29] as well as accusations of Marxism-Leninism by the local leader of the centre-right Moderate Party.[30] The decision to disqualify the signatures is the subject of ongoing appeal by all parties involved.[31][32]

Policies and activities

The party is heavily opposed to political corruption and high politician incomes and wants to reduce the wages of politicians and senior officials.[17] In keeping with this policy, Allard promised to donate half of his monthly allowance to fund a planned series of social programmes. In August 2019 the party announced the first such project to be social pole-walking (sauvakävely) for pensioners.[33] During the COVID-19 pandemic the party has used this fund to provide face masks to municipal elderly care workers,[34][35] while heavily criticising what is perceived as a political gag-order on care workers regarding poor equipment and conditions.[36][37][38] Another project was announced via Allard's personal Facebook page in 2022, wherein 30,000 SEK were donated to a local homeless aid organisation.[39] The donation was followed by a fundraising drive by the party's social media followers.[40]

Other issues include making plebiscites easier to enact and more potent, increased social housing,[41] subsidies for youth recreation,[17] and free dental care.[42] The party advocates stricter migration policies, strong secularism, and assimilationist policies such as immediate closure of the Islamic charter schools.[43][44][45] It opposes continued privatization of health care, elderly care, public housing and municipal education, among other things. During the 2018–2022 term the party has opposed prestige public projects it considers wasteful, such as the proposed Palace of Culture and bus rapid transit.[46][47]

The party actively supports the creation of similar parties in other municipalities such as the Tierp List,[48][49] variously described as external branches of the Örebro party.[50]

References
  1. Nyheter, S. V. T.; Svennebäck, Åsa (11 September 2018). "Örebropartiet räknar med att bli stoppklossen i fullmäktige". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  2. "Örebropartiet (ÖrP)". orebro.tromanpublik.se (in Swedish). Örebro Municipality: Örebro municipal council. Archived from the original on 20 July 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  3. "VÅR POLITIK | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. Carlsvärd, Mats (15 December 2013). "Markus Allard utesluten ur Ung vänster". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  5. Eriksson, Gustaf (7 March 2014). "Vänsterpartiet hotar utesluta medlemmar". Metro (in Swedish). Sweden. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  6. Berglin, Rikard (17 December 2013). "Ung vänster riskerar splittras om Markus Allard utesluts" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  7. Berglin, Rikard (5 March 2014). "Markus Allard startar nytt parti". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  8. Lorentz, Elliot (8 February 2018). "Allard om Springares medlemskap i Örebropartiet: 'Han besitter en bred organisatorisk kompetens'". Nyheter Idag (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  9. Lehnberg, Anne-Li (5 March 2014). "Allard bildar eget parti". Flamman (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  10. Johansen, Marita (7 March 2014). "V sparkar ut ÖP-vänliga medlemmar". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  11. Green, Axel (14 March 2014). "13 i V i Örebro riskerar uteslutning". Arbetaren (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  12. "Stängs av från Ung vänster – Upsala Nya Tidning". unt.se (in Swedish). 6 June 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  13. Rensfeldt, Gunnar (6 March 2014). "Militanta RF orsakar slitningar och uteslutningar i Ung Vänster" (in Swedish). Sveriges Television. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  14. "Val till kommunfullmäktige i Örebro - Röster" (in Swedish). September 2014.
  15. Fredriksson, Kim (14 April 2015). "Före detta Ung Vänster-toppen Markus Allard: 'SD agerar som Vänsterpartiet'". Aktuellt Fokus (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 February 2018.
  16. "Val till riksdagen - Röster - Örebro län: Röster på partier som ej beställt valsedlar - riksdagsvalkrets Örebro län" (in Swedish). September 2014.
  17. Forsberg, Oskar (8 February 2018). "Polisen Peter Springare blir politikernewspaper=Aftonbladet" (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  18. "Örebro - Röster - Val 2018". data.val.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  19. Nilsson, Johannes (24 October 2019). "Allards virala utskällning av politikerna: 'Ni vräker i er gräddtårta på skattebetalarnas bekostnad'". Nyheter Idag | By Johannes Nilsson (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  20. "Örebro kommun vill skära ner på färdtjänsten - då säger en förbannad lokalpolitiker vad han tycker". ViralKing.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  21. "Lars Ströman: Demokratin står inte så stark längre – den är hotad". na.se (in Swedish). 8 December 2019. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  22. "Tusentals skrev på mot superbussarna". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  23. Nyheter, S. V. T.; Wahlgren, Jennie (12 October 2021). "Här överlämnas namnunderskrifterna om folkomröstning". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  24. "Ingen folkomröstning om kollektivtrafiksystemet BRT - orebro.se". www.orebro.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  25. "Här granskar ex-polisen Peter Springare misstänkta s-valfusket: "Sabotage mot demokratin"". Samnytt (in Swedish). 4 December 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  26. "Så blev Örebros bussar en fråga om tilltron till demokratin – "Fusk rakt igenom"". www.dagenssamhalle.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  27. "Storbråk om superbussar i Örebro: "Korruption"". Dagens PS (in Swedish). 4 November 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  28. Markus Allard Interview, retrieved 9 June 2022
  29. "Generalrepetition i demokratiförstöring – Arbetet" (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  30. "Örebropartiet skyr inga medel för att komma till makten". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  31. Hansson, Marie (1 December 2021). "Politikernas besked: Ingen folkomröstning om BRT". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  32. "Beslutet om snabbussarna i rätten – det här kan få liberalerna att ge upp". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  33. "Örebropartiet söker intresserade för stavgångsprojekt för pensionärer! | Örebropartiet". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  34. "Vad händer när Örebropartiet delar ut skyddsutrustning till behövande? | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  35. "Allard lovade skänka bort halva sin politikerlön – efter två år vill han inte berätta till vad: "Har några projekt igång"". Nerikes Allehanda (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  36. "Springare JO-anmäler kommunledningen | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  37. www.na.se (7 May 2020). "Örebros försök att mörklägga information". na.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  38. Anders Nilsson 019-15 53 33 (30 April 2020). "NA:s chefredaktör om Örebros beslut att slopa meddelarfriheten: "Jag väntar på att ansvariga ska be de kommunanställda om ursäkt"". na.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  39. "Log into Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 18 May 2022. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  40. "Vi finns för dig i Örebro". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  41. "VÅR POLITIK | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  42. "Tandvård | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  43. "Invandring | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  44. Radio, Sveriges (12 June 2019). "Örebropartiet vill lägga ner Vivallaskolan - P4 Örebro". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  45. "Örebropartiet försökte stänga islamisternas förskolor – blev nedröstade… | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  46. "ÖP-MOTION: Stoppa Kulturkvarteret! | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  47. "Vi röstade NEJ till att slösa 1 miljard på "superbussar" | Örebropartiet (ÖP)". www.orebropartiet.se. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  48. "Örebropartiet". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  49. "Nytt parti utmanar i Tierp: "Kan bli en ny Bengt-Olov, fast bra"". Arbetarbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  50. "Fight Big-Tech Censorship with Low-Tech Retail Politics". The American Conservative. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
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