STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN | Sweden’s Left Party has removed eight additional candidates from its election lists after a media investigation reported that candidates had shared antisemitic conspiracy theories, praised Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin, and circulated other extremist or hateful material on social media.
The removals, reported Sept. 7, bring to 33 the total number of Left Party candidates removed from election lists this year following a series of controversies involving antisemitism and other extremist content.
The latest action comes less than a week before Sweden’s Sept. 13 general election and has intensified scrutiny of the party’s candidate-vetting procedures.
All eight of the latest candidates were running in municipal elections, according to Sveriges Radio. One was also a candidate for Sweden’s national parliament, the Riksdag.
Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar confirmed that the candidates had been removed.
“They are gone and were not eligible for election on the list,” Dadgostar told Expressen, according to Swedish media reports.
Party secretary Maria Forsberg said antisemitism and conspiracy theories have no place in the Left Party.
The candidates’ reported social-media posts were uncovered as part of an Expressen investigation. The individual posts and allegations reported by the newspaper have not been judicially assessed, and removal from a political party’s candidate list does not constitute a legal finding.
Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Among Reported Posts
Sveriges Radio reported that the eight candidates had circulated material including antisemitic conspiracy theories and content praising Hamas and Putin.
One reported conspiracy theory claimed that Jews sacrifice the children of the “white race,” according to Sveriges Radio’s summary of the Expressen investigation.
Other candidates were reported to have praised Hamas, Iran or Russia, or circulated material supporting authoritarian governments and extremist movements.
Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union, Canada, the United States and several other governments.
The latest eight removals follow the earlier removal of 25 Left Party candidates.
According to Sveriges Radio, those earlier cases collectively involved support for terrorism, antisemitism, homophobia, Holocaust denial and praise for dictators or authoritarian governments.
Sveriges Radio initially reported an incorrect total before issuing a correction Sept. 7. The broadcaster clarified that 25 candidates had previously been removed and that the latest eight bring the overall number to 33.
Party Faces Questions Over Candidate Vetting
The latest disclosures have placed Dadgostar under renewed pressure because she had previously expressed confidence in the candidates remaining on the party’s lists after the earlier removals.
Following the new investigation, she emphasized that the eight candidates were no longer representing the party.
“We have removed these people; they are no longer with us,” Dadgostar told SVT.
Asked about the material itself, she said it was important that the individuals were no longer candidates.
The Left Party has previously acknowledged shortcomings in its vetting.
Dadgostar has said the party should have exercised better oversight of people seeking to represent it in the election and promised to work to ensure appropriate candidates remained on its lists.
The controversy has become particularly significant because Sweden is days away from a closely contested national election.
Recent polling has shown a narrowing contest between the governing center-right bloc led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and the center-left opposition led by Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson.
The Left Party is part of the broader center-left opposition but is not currently part of a Social Democratic-led government.
Other Centre-Left Parties Condemn Revelations
The latest findings have drawn criticism not only from the Left Party’s political opponents but also from parties that could potentially need its parliamentary support following the election.
Social Democratic Party secretary Tobias Baudin described the reported material as extremely serious.
“What has been spread is terrible material,” Baudin told Swedish media, adding that the controversy showed the Left Party still had substantial work to do.
He also said the Left Party remained far from being in a position to take a place in a Social Democratic-led government.
Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist similarly criticized the Left Party over the recurring revelations, arguing that they raised questions about its leadership and ability to screen candidates.
The controversy has therefore moved beyond the conduct of individual candidates and into the wider debate over the Left Party’s organizational controls.
Swedish Jewish Community Has Raised Broader Concerns
The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities has previously argued that recurring controversies involving Left Party representatives point to a broader problem with antisemitism within parts of the party.
That characterization remains the position of the Jewish communal organization, not an official legal finding against the Left Party as an institution.
The distinction is significant.
The conduct attributed to individual candidates can be assessed based on the specific statements or material they allegedly shared. Whether those cases demonstrate a structural problem within an entire political party is a broader political and organizational question.
The repeated removals, however, have increased pressure on the party to explain how so many candidates with reported extremist or antisemitic material reached its election lists.
Antisemitism within Swedish political and public life has received increased attention since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Jewish organizations in Sweden and across Europe have reported heightened concern about antisemitic rhetoric, threats and hostility directed at Jewish communities during that period.
33 Candidates Now Removed
The number of candidates involved makes the controversy considerably larger than the latest eight cases alone.
Sveriges Radio now places the total at 33 candidates removed from Left Party election lists in connection with controversies collectively involving antisemitism, support for terrorism, homophobia, Holocaust denial, conspiracy theories and praise for authoritarian governments.
The specific allegations differ from candidate to candidate. It would therefore be inaccurate to characterize all 33 as having been removed specifically for antisemitism.
The party itself has publicly rejected antisemitism.
During a parliamentary debate in June, Dadgostar said there was no place in the Left Party for racism, antisemitism or sympathizers of genocide.
The continuing disclosures nevertheless leave the party facing questions about how candidates expressing views it says are incompatible with its values repeatedly made their way onto its election lists.
With Swedish voters heading to the polls Sept. 13, those questions have now become part of the final days of the national election campaign.
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