Swedish Conservatives unworthy of image

The conservative Moderate Party led by Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has become a laughing stock after its secretary-general Sofia Arkelsten falsely claimed the Conservatives were once a driving force behind the introduction of universal suffrage. Jokes are now circulating in online forums about how the party's representatives held the Sermon on the Mount or were the first to land on the moon. Finally critics are speaking up, comments the left-liberal daily Dala-Demokraten: "The Conservatives are behaving like a PR machine that has taken to heart the media logic and is riding high on the wave of general weariness with politics. In the absence of a strong social democracy they have miraculously escaped any insightful criticism or scrutiny so far. But making false historical claims goes too far. And if Arkelsten's comments aren't false statements then what are they? The answer: It all boils down to shallowness, self-deception and their habit of saying whatever they like without being questioned."

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