Swedish politician leaves party after prime minister's 'Somalitown' remarks

A Swedish-Somali politician has left the ruling Social Democrats party in protest over recent remarks by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, saying the party has become too xenophobic.

Saida Hussein Moge criticized Andersson over comments she made last week where she said Sweden should not have any "Somalitowns."

The Social Democrats have "become a more xenophobic party," Moge wrote Monday on her social media account.

Moge went further and said she has lost confidence in Social Democrats leader Andersson.

"The Social Democrats no longer stand for the values and principles that I believe in. The Social Democrats are coming further from their roots and are increasingly approaching right-wing politics, while they have become a more xenophobic party," she wrote in a statement on Facebook.

She said the words used by the prime minister fuel racism, hatred and exclusion.

"I want to urge everyone who has thought about giving me their votes in the election not to do it. I ask everyone to use their votes to put an end to the evil forces in society," she added.

Moge is a well-known politician from Gothenburg who has been on Social Democrat lists for both municipal and parliamentary elections in the city.

In an interview with the Dagens Nyheter daily, Andersson said: "We do not want to have Chinatowns in Sweden. We do not want to have Somalitowns or Little Italies."

Andersson's remarks followed criticism of a proposal by Immigration Minister Anders Ygeman that Sweden should follow Denmark and seek to limit the concentration of people with non-Nordic immigrant backgrounds in the most troubled areas of its cities.