Letter to the editor. The Social Democrats' election is a personal insult

I have sat in the Riksdag for the Social Democrats. On Wednesday, a broad majority in the Riksdag clubbed a constitutional amendment that opens up the possibility of withdrawing Swedish citizenship. Only the Left Party and the Green Party voted no. All 99 members from my own party voted yes.

The constitutional amendment makes it possible to enact a law that treats Swedish citizens differently when they are convicted of the same crime. If the crime seriously damages Sweden's vital interests, the person who is also a citizen of another country can lose his Swedish citizenship. Those who are only Swedish citizens may keep theirs.

Same crime. Same Swedish citizenship. Different right to keep it.

Equality before the law is a basic principle in a rule of law. The Riksdag has weakened that principle by allowing for poorer protection for certain Swedish citizens. It is a deterioration of the constitution and a democratic failure. The fact that six parties agreed makes their responsibility greater.

As a Swede with an immigrant background, I take this personally. For many of us, the decision raises the question of how naturally we are allowed to belong in our own country.

My party should have defended that security. Every single Social Democrat member voted to make it weaker for some of us.

I want a straight answer from the Social Democrats' party leadership. Why should the state be able to take away from a Swedish citizen what another gets to keep after exactly the same crime? And what is equality worth to the party when it ends at citizenship?