According to the south-Swedish newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad, Sverigedemokraterna is popular among youth, or, as the researcher suggets, it might just be a sign of teenage rebellion. Here are some excerpts from the article:

"Every other ninth-grader does not know what party they would vote for in the parliamentary elections, or if they would vote at all, shows the extensive opinion research. At the same time the Sweden Democrats are enjoying great support. They became the most popular party among ninth-graders in Landskrona. However, the results should be interpreted carefully, say researchers."

"...However, of those who do know who they would vote for, many have chosen the Sweden Democrats. They would be the 3rd biggest party in North-Western Skåne, after the Moderates and Social Democrats. In Landskrona, however, they had the most votes out of all the parties with 16 per cent."

However, Jens Rydgren, a sociologist from the Stockholm university, does not think that this necessarily means those who chose the Sweden Democrats now would do so four years from now.

"-You have to interpret these results very carefully. When presented with a poll such as this one, which does not affect anything and the students being of that age, it could be a form of protest. They know which is seen as the 'naughty' choice."

Jens Rydgren thinks that no conclusions can be made before the reasons behind the votes and how they were cast are clear. It must be known what the results represent, he says, before reaching any kind of conclusion.

"In Ängelholm the Sweden Democrats received six per cent of the votes and seven per cent in Helsingborg. Among all ninth-graders that took part in the poll in Sweden, 12 570 persons in total, the support for the Sweden Democrats is at six per cent."

The study also shows, that politically activity in general is low among Swedish teenagers. The article also included this little gem: "If you ask Enes Ferhatovic, Diana Muriqi, Suada Racic och Sejla Kurtovic at Gustav Adolfskolan in Landskrona, the Social Democrats are the most popular party." You don't say?

Here are the results in diagram form. The lighter bars show the results for North-Western Skåne and the darker bars are the results for the whole country.



With over half of all ninth-graders being undecided or uninterested, and with such high support among the Sweden Democrats, it has become evident, that people are getting sick and tired of the current political establishment (this includes the media) and the direction the country is headed. It may have been a protest vote, a slap in the face for Persson and his cronies, or it may have been just for 'laughs'. The latter, however, seems unlikely to me. The Sweden Democrats had the best showing in Landskrona, is there a reason for it?

Here are some excerpts from an article I found it the same paper:

"Beaten, shot and mock-excecuted

Peter, 25, was beaten, mock-excecuted and shot 20 times by a gang of youths. It was only after two hours of terror that he managed to escape. He did not get any compensation from his insurance, the reason: he was intoxicated."
"Peter was on his way home from the bar Gringos in central Landskrona when he was knocked down from behind with a hard object. When he woke up, he was being dragged along a sand path, from Eriksgatan to a place protected from sight under a flight of stairs at Alléskolan. There two more persons appeared. The attackers encouraged each other on by yelling "svennejävel" [=Swedish devil] and repeatedly beat and kicked Peter while he was down on the ground. They even jumped on his back. If he didn't shut up, he would die.
-They ripped off my bealt and my shirt and took all my valuables - ring, necklace, bracelett, mobile phone and wallet.
But he refused to give the code to his bank account to the youth gang. Then one of the robbers sat on Peter, pressed a gun to his neck and said that he would excecute him. Then he fired three or four shots in quick succession.
-"Is this how it will end", I thought. But after a few seconds I realized that it was "only" a gas-powered pistol, for he fired several shots at a time. While it hurt terribly, I felt relieved." "

In the end, Peter was forced to give the code to his bank account, but not before he had no less than 20 lead pellets lodged in his body.

"Peter has had good help from a psychologist to deal with the event, but it will never be quite like before. Both him and his girlfriend are equipped with personal alarms and they plan meticulously how to get home in the evenings - to walk is not an option."

Perhaps it is a coincidence that this event took place in Landskrona, the same place where support for the Sweden Democrats is at its highest among teenagers, but I do not think so. The establishment continues to be unable to address this most serious of issues: the safety of its citizens, that they claim to represent. Already a number of 'Citizen Guards' have been established around Sweden because of the ever-growing violence, the incomptence and lack of trust of the police. The Citizen Guards have been reiceved positively by the vast majority of people, or so one could deduce from the feedback that Kvällsposten received after their article on one of such Guards.