The Liberals (Swedish: Liberalerna, L), previously known as the Liberal People's Party (Swedish: Folkpartiet liberalerna) until 22 November 2015, is a conservative-liberal[7][8] political party in Sweden. The Liberals ideologically have shown a broad variety of liberal tendencies. Currently they are seen as following classical liberalism[9] and economic liberalism,[10][11] and have been described as being centre-right.[12][13][14] The party is a member of the Liberal International and Renew Europe.
Historically, the party was positioned in the centre of the Swedish political landscape, willing to cooperate with both the political left and the right. It has since the leadership of Lars Leijonborg and Jan Björklund in the 2000s positioned itself more towards the right.[12][15][16] It was a part of the Alliance centre-right coalition government led by Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt from 2006 to 2014. The party's policies include action toward a free market economy and pushing for Sweden to join the Eurozone, as well as investing in nuclear power;[17] it also focuses on gender equality, the school system and quality education.[12][15]
In February 2019, following the conclusion of government negotiations, Jan Björklund announced his intention to step down from the leadership position after 11 years at the helm of the Liberals. He was succeeded by Nyamko Sabuni in June 2019.[18] After the 2021 Swedish government crisis, the party withdrew its support for Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, and is now part of a right-wing government together with the Moderate Party and the Christian Democrats, with support from the Sweden Democrats, with Ulf Kristersson as their Prime Minister candidate. In an interview with Dagens Nyheter in February 2022, Sabuni stated that the Sweden Democrats will "play an important role in an eventual right-wing government" and that she would not be hesitant to work and collaborate with them, stating that there was a possibility of Liberals supporting a Moderate-Christian Democrats-Sweden Democrats government, even if the Liberals were not included in the government.[19] Since the decision to collaborate with the Sweden Democrats, the party has adopted more right-wing populist viewpoints, such as a more restrictive migration policy, easier withdrawal of citizenship for immigrants, and has strongly criticised Muslim schools.[20][21][22] The party ultimately agreed to join the Tidö Agreement and form a coalition government with the Christian Democrats and the Moderate Party, which rely closely on support from the Sweden Democrats.[23]
On 4 September 2006, only weeks before the 2006 general election, the Social Democratic Party reported to the police that its internal network had been hacked into. It has been reported that members of the then-named Liberal People's Party had, in order to counter Social Democrat political propositions, on at least two occasions copied secret information that had not yet been officially released. On 5 September, Party Secretary Johan Jakobsson voluntarily chose to resign. Leading members of the party and its youth organisation both were placed under a police investigation, suspected for criminal activity. All members of the party were acquitted by the court; however, an official of the party's youth organisation, and one from the Social Democrats as well as a newspaper reporter, were found guilty.[26][27][28][29][30]
The official party ideology has historically been social liberalism,[31] which translates as a strong ideological commitment to a mixed economy, with support for comprehensive but market-based welfare state programs.[citation needed]
While initially allied with the Swedish Social Democratic Party in the struggle for democracy (achieved in 1921) and social reform, the People's Party came to be part of the opposition from the thirties and onwards, opposing Social Democrat demands for nationalization of private businesses. It has stayed opposed to the Social Democrats ever since, often as the largest or second-largest party of the opposition block (called the non-socialists or "de borgerliga", approximately the bourgeois), but often equally critical towards parties on the right. Over time, this has shifted towards a more clear-cut rightwing role. In the mid-nineties the party seemed to have ruled out the alternative of co-operation with the Social Democrats, focusing instead on bringing them down by strengthening the opposition.[citation needed]
Foreign policy is another high-profile issue. Always oriented towards the United States and the United Kingdom, the party was a strong opponent of Communism and Nazism during the 20th century. While it was part of and supported the Swedish coalition government and its position of neutrality during World War II, the party advocated an active stance against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The party (alongside Moderaterna) actively supported the struggle of the Baltic peoples against the Soviet regime, whereas Social Democrats were wary of irritating the Soviets.[32] As a consequence, it suffered several sharply worded rebukes from the often-ruling Social Democrats for endangering Swedish relations with the Soviet Union. It also criticised what it perceived as Social Democrat tolerance of left-wing dictatorships in the third world, and supported the United States in the Vietnam War. After the end of the Cold War, it became the first Swedish party to call for abandoning the country's traditional neutrality in favor of joining NATO.[citation needed]
Among issues concerning the developing world, the party supported decolonization and advocated boycotting South Africa to help overthrow apartheid rule. It also opposed third world Communist dictatorships. Nowadays it is strongly supportive of Israel, and former Party leader Per Ahlmark has been especially vocal on the issue.[