In June 2023, the government established a constitutional committee, which was tasked with addressing several weighty issues – several of them from the Tidö Agreement between the government and the Sweden Democrats. For example, the committee members have investigated whether citizenship can be revoked for individuals with dual citizenship. Today, this is not possible.
On Wednesday, the committee will present its report, which TT has read. It proposes that citizenship can be revoked for individuals with dual citizenship who have provided false information, bribed or threatened their way to citizenship, or have committed crimes that seriously threaten national security, such as espionage, or fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
All parties except V and MP support this.
Want to go further
However, M, SD, KD, and L wanted to go further and have submitted a separate opinion. They want to include system-threatening criminality that seriously damages Sweden's vital interests.
S opposes this, among other things because the definition is legally uncertain and is not a concept used in Swedish legislation.
This could be applied to tax crimes, accounting crimes, or if someone forgets a confidential document at a conference center, says Amalia Rud Stenlöf (S).
I do not want to arbitrarily let SD define what vital interests are.
Even though the Tidö parties have a majority in the Riksdag, it is difficult to propose constitutional amendments without a broad majority. To change a constitutional law, the Riksdag must make two decisions, with a parliamentary election in between.
Punishable to be in a gang
The constitutional committee has also investigated whether the freedom of association can be restricted to combat criminal gangs, i.e., whether it should be punishable to be a member of a gang. Today, the freedom of association can only be restricted in a few cases, for example, if it concerns a terrorist organization.
Now the committee proposes that the freedom of association can be restricted for associations that engage in serious criminal activity to achieve economic or other unlawful gain.
V and MP reserve themselves against this.
In more authoritarian states, civil society organizations have recently been defined as "criminal". We are worried that such a development could occur in Sweden as well, and enable the criminalization of, for example, environmental organizations or organizations working with human rights, says Jan Riise (MP).
Another proposal that all parties support is that the right to abortion is proposed to be written into the constitution.
