The Communist Party is a Marxist–Leninistpolitical party in Sweden started in 1970. From 1970 to 1977, it was known as Kommunistiska Förbundet Marxist-Leninisterna , abbreviated KFML and from 1977 to 2004 it was named Kommunistiska Partiet Marxist-Leninisterna , abbreviated KPML. At the 14th Party Congress held in Gothenburg in January 2005, it was decided to change the name to Kommunistiska Partiet. KFML was founded in 1970 by a splinter group from the pro-Chinese KFML, which in turn had split from the EurocommunistLeft Party in 1967. "The s" considered that KFML had approached reformism and was not a genuine workers' movement. In 1970, it began publishing the weekly Proletären. During the 1980s, KPML achieved representation in some municipalities, including Gothenburg, Sweden's second-largest city. The Gothenburg region has always been the strongest area for the party, partly because the party was started there. During the period of 1970 to 1999, the party chairman was Frank Baude. Baude was succeeded by Anders Carlsson, who held the post as chairman between 1999 and 2014. Ulf Nilsson is the current party chairman as of September 2019, succeeding Robert Mathiasson. Its members and sympathisers includes, or included, several Swedish celebrities such as actors Sven Wollter, Lasse Brandeby and Kent Andersson and musicians Ken, Totta Näslund and Fred Åkerström, all of whom have participated in events and gatherings arranged by the party.
In 1969, governmental registration of an individual's political affiliation was made illegal in Sweden. However, in 2003 it was revealed that the Swedish Security Service already in 1970 had been secretly instructed by the Swedish government to continue surveillance of "key individuals" in some twenty organisations on the far-left and far-right of Swedish politics in spite of that ban. This surveillance continued until 1998. KFML/KPML and its associated organisations were among those put under such surveillance. When the files were made public, they revealed that the number of surveilled individuals of the party ranged from 2,012 in 1985 to 1,346 in 1998, which meant that almost all party members had been under surveillance.
Electoral results
The party does not participate in elections to the national nor the European parliaments. It does not participate in the national elections due to financial and tactical reasons whereas it advocates boycott of the European parliament elections. However, it does participate in the municipal elections in some Swedish municipalities. In 2010, the party participated in the elections in 18 municipalities, which is the largest number of municipalities so far. Its electoral results have fluctuated over time, with high results in various cities during the late 1990s. In the three most recent elections, the party has lost ground electorally.
