Swedish Riksdag Rejects Sweden Democrats' Referendum Proposal on Constitutional Amendment

The Swedish Riksdag has decisively rejected the Sweden Democrats' (SD) request for a public referendum on a constitutional amendment aimed at making constitutional changes more difficult. The referendum proposal was defeated with 257 votes against and only 70 in favor, with 22 members absent. SD leader Jimmie Åkesson criticized the decision as undermining democracy, emphasizing the issue's importance by comparing it to Sweden's memberships in the EU and NATO. Åkesson argued that the proposed amendment, which would require a two-thirds parliamentary majority to change the constitution instead of a simple majority, threatens to weaken democratic processes by effectively granting major parties, especially the Social Democrats, a veto power over constitutional changes. Other parties, including Social Democrat Lena Hallengren, dismissed the referendum as unnecessary and accused SD of placing party interests above national consensus. The proposal to make constitutional amendments harder passed the first parliamentary vote earlier but must pass a second vote after the next general election to be enacted. Currently, seven of eight parties support this strengthened constitutional process, leaving SD isolated in opposition. The vote to hold a referendum on this amendment failed to reach the threshold of one-third of parliament members necessary to proceed. This outcome reflects ongoing political debates on safeguarding democracy in Sweden amid global democratic challenges highlighted by the Moderates' Mats Green.