Committee chairman Mattias Karlsson (SD) is surprised by the “united opposition”. He describes the situation facing the Mediterranean Museum and the Museum of East Asia, both threatened with closure, as “quite impossible”. The Sweden Democrats believe the next government should give the world culture museums the 35 million kronor needed to avoid emergency closures next year, he says.
However, the committee’s proposal was to urge the government to urgently investigate the rental model itself.
All the other parties voted down the initiative, giving slightly different, rambling justifications, Mattias Karlsson says.
The explanations were rather contrived. I think it is sad that the committee is missing a chance to put this issue very high on the agenda of an incoming government.
“Too weak”
The Green Party voted no for several reasons, according to Leila Ali Elmi.
Partly because the initiative is too weak. What the Sweden Democrats mean is a limitation of the market rent model so that it does not affect museums. We want to reform the entire rental model so that it takes into account the museums’ social mission. Museums do not exist to generate returns for the state, she says.
"No news"
The Green Party submitted a motion on the issue earlier this spring. Leila Ali Elmi emphasizes that the consequences of market rent for museums are nothing new.
The Sweden Democrats have known about this problem and have had influence over the government for four years. It is incredibly frivolous to come up with such a proposal when you cannot even gather your intended partner parties.
What do you think?