Friday, June 03, 2005

French ‘non' puts Swedish government on the spot

French ‘non' puts Persson’s government on the spot

Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson finds himself cornered after the French rejection of the European Union's constitutional treaty. Persson said the results would not influence his plans to let the parliament vote on the treaty in December. 'We'll decide for ourselves,' he said. The Left Party has threatened to withdraw its support for Persson's Social Democratic minority government, if the parliament ratifies the treaty without sending it to a national referendum. Persson depends on its support to push government bills through in parliament. The Left Party, formerly a Communist party, is giving the government a chance to change its mind until after the summer vacation, before withdrawing its support. Up till now, Sweden's right-wing opposition has agreed with the government that the parliament should decide on the constitution in the fall.

Swedish Muslims Generally for EU Constitution

The Muslim minority in Sweden is generally in favor of the embattled European Union Constitution. “This constitution is in the interest of the Muslim minority in Sweden, which is estimated at 500,000, as it safeguards the rights of minorities and freedom of religion,” Sheikh Hassan Moussa, chairman of the Swedish Council for Imams, told IslamOnline.net. Moussa said the treaty eschews all sorts of racist and religious discrimination, given that it dropped any reference to Christianity as the continent's religion. Al-Akhdar Kirkib, the chairman of the Swedish anti-Islamophobia society, said the constitution would shield Muslim minorities across Europe against racism.

3 Comments:

At June 03, 2005 5:17 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

“This constitution is in the interest of the Muslim minority in Sweden, which is estimated at 500,000..."


Can this be right? The entire population of Sweden is only about 9,000,000. Presumably the speaker has an incentive to exaggerate, but reliable estimates of Muslim populations are notoriously difficult to find.

 
At June 04, 2005 4:59 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Given the demographic growth rate of muslims, it could well be right by now.

LOL.

DP111

 
At June 04, 2005 5:06 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Muslims living in Europe are quite supportive of the EU constitution. All their imams tell them to vote for it.

Now if this constitution is so wonderful for muslims, I propose that muslims adopt it in all islamic nations, including that bastion of freedom of religion - Saudi Arabia. That certainly will teach us.

DP111

 

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