The murder that shocked an entire people ON THE Sveavaeg in the center of Stockholm on March 10, thousands of people gathered around the mountain of flowers and the gas flame on the site of the murder of Olof Palme, as people have done ever since the fateful morning when the country learned of this brutal act by a skulking killer. At the stroke of noon, the time set to honour his memory, this sea of people turned into a united demon-
SWEDEN forestall the racist attacks that might have been feared against the scapegoats among the immigrant population.
The police picture of the suspected murderer aroused fears among the country's immigrants and political refugees, since it did not portray a "classic Swedish" type. But in many quarters attempts were made to check what could have been an incitement to reactionary hatred. The whole workers' movement and many other personalities warned against such developments.
Dozens of immigrant organizations called a mass demonstration in the center of Stockholm with the message "Swedish born and immigrants, side by side in us grave migrants, side by side in this grave hour." About 7,000 people came out on short notice. Foreign Minister Sten Andersson made the same point forcefully, reading a message from Olof Palme's widow, Lisbeth, that it was now more important than ever to close ranks in defense of the values that the murdered permier fought for his entire life. Nonetheless, we have seen some sinister attempts to take political advantage of the murder. A series of employers have issued "appeals" for general restraint in the aftermath of the tragic event, implying naturally that the workers should exercise such restraint in the coming contract negotiations.
For their own part, the capitalists have not shown any such restraint. We saw another example of the capitalist way of operating days after the murder, when the Stockholm stock market registered its highest index in history, along with a record volume of trading. This paralleled speculations in the business press that the new premierIngvar Carisson might be gentler than Palme and inclined to foster a more promanagement economic policy.
In the unions also we have seen attempts to stifle the criticism that had been growing against the policy of concessions and class-collaborationism of the top officials. This is being done in the name of "The need for national unity around values more fundamental than real wages."
However, as life returns to normal, the concrete realities will reemerge. If, out of misdirected hope that in so doing they can foster a respect for life, the workers take a step backward, the bosses will only take a corresponding step forward.
The result of that could only be greater antagonisms in society, greater poverty, greater unemployment, bringing with them a more embittered and violent society, a society whose hallmark would be precisely a lack of respect for life.
3 stration of restrained anger. TOM GUSTAFSSON
STOCKHOLM - A quiet but deep tremor has gone through the country. It will never be the same again. The murder of Olof Palme touched the deepest nerves in the Swedish people. There was universal shock, the feeling that this just could not happen, at least not here.
The country is still gripped by emotion. Most people were shocked by the killing of the most prominent leader and symbolic representative of the Swedish workers' movement. Many were jolted because they felt that the values that Palme was associated with, or seemed to be associated with, had also been struck down when the fatal bullet was fired. Others were moved because, while not necessarily supporting the Swedish social democracy's political orientation, they shared many of Palme's basic values.
No Swedish politician in the twentieth century has placed such a personal stamp on political life, or so polarized it.
Palme was a thorn in the flesh of his bourgeois opponents, and this was truer the further right you went. No social democratic politician in modern times was so hated by the aggressive right. Partly, it was as a leader of the workers movement that he attracted their hatred. But it was also because they saw him as an obstacle to a radical right turn in defense and foreign policy.
For such circles, Olof Palme came to be seen virtually as a threat to the "survival of the Swedish nation."
For example, in the last elections, some young conservatives used his picture for a dartboard. Of course, this is an extreme example. But it is not hard to imagine that the murder could have come out of the brownfever swamps of the far right.
On the right of the Social Democratic Party, some let it be known that they would prefer a more placid, more traditional "Swedish" style of
International Viewpoint 24 March 1986 work. But they talked about that in subdued tones.
The sort of opposition to the social democracy that came from the left, and more and more in recent months from local union organizations, ot course was quite different in form and nature. Inevitably Olof Palme came to symbolize many of the things people were critical of, such as the austerity poliey and government support for the exploitative policy of Swedish capital in the Third World. But this was not necessarily an obstacle to sharing in a broader community of interest.
Much of the foreign comment has taken as its starting point the idea that Sweden has seemed to be an island of relative stability and peace in the stormy seas of world polities. Many have also pointed to relatively strong impulses of humanitarianism and egalitarianism deeply rooted in the Swedish mind.
There is a basis for such views. Historically, these impulses can be credited to the Swedish workers' movement, which also enjoyed unusually favorable conditions in its struggle. Such undercurrents in the minds of Swedish people obviously influence the framework of official policy. In the past days, many of these undercurrents have come to the surface. The wave of outrage and solidarity would be incomprehensible except against this background.
Within days of the murder, demonstration after demonstration started up, most of them spontaneously and without any interconnection. At the funeral in Stockholm on March 15, hundreds of thousands of people joined the cortege, and tens of thousands filed past the grave in a cemetery filled with memorials of the Swedish workers' movement.
These massive demonstrations, marked by a spirit of humane and collective protest, also helped to