The Sweden Democrats have called for a referendum on a proposal to change the constitution which would tighten up the rules for future amendments.
Currently, changes to Sweden’s constitution require two votes either side of an election, in which the first vote has a majority of at least two thirds of parliament. Under current rules, the second vote only needs the approval of a simple majority ‒ or in other words, at least 50 percent.
The new proposal, which was originally put forward in 2023, has already been voted on once in parliament ‒ it was approved by all parties bar the Sweden Democrats. A second vote needs to be held after the 2026 election for it to come into force.
If the proposal comes into force, all future changes to the constitution will require two votes, each with a majority of at least two thirds of parliament.
The Sweden Democrats are against this, arguing that it would “in practice give the Social Democrats a veto on changes to the constitution”.
“This is such an important part of our entire democratic system that it’s important that the Swedish people have a chance to say yes or no,” Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson said.
His party highlights that the change will not just affect future alterations to the democratic system, but also any other issue which requires a change to the constitution – such as revoking citizenship.
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The party is concerned that the new change could mean that proposals which are supported by a parliamentary majority could still be stopped by just over a third of MPs.
The Social Democrats usually hold at least 30 percent of seats in parliament, often more, so they would only need the support of one of the smaller parties to block any change.
For a referendum to take place, at least a third of parliament, or 117 MPs, would need to be in favour. The Sweden Democrats currently have 72 seats in parliament, so they would need the support of an additional 45 MPs from other parties.
“I don’t know how possible it actually is for us to get a demand like this through parliament,” Åkesson said, while adding that he wants to give the other parties in the right-wing block “another chance” to consider supporting a referendum.
Justice minister Gunnar Strömmer, from the Moderates, said that his party is not interested in voting in favour of a referendum. The Moderates are the only party in the right-wing block with enough MPs to help the Sweden Democrats meet the 117 seat threshold.
“The important thing for me is that our system is balanced, where it’s slightly slower to change the constitution than for other laws, but where it isn’t too difficult to raise constitutional issues so that voters can take a stand in an election,” he said.