Olof Palme, Sweden's then prime minister, was shot to death in central Stockholm on February 28, 1986. The murder remains unsolved today, despite one of the world's most extensive police investigations. Carina Sammeli, a Social Democratic municipal councilor in Luleå, was eight years old when Olof Palme was murdered.
She remembers her parents taking out a flag and watching TV about the prime minister being shot. "My parents took out a flag and we watched TV about Sweden's prime minister being shot. I do not come from a particularly political home and do not even know if my parents voted for the Social Democrats, but there was respect for Olof Palme and a shock over that he was dead," Sammeli said.
My parents took out a flag and we watched TV about Sweden's prime minister being shot. I do not come from a particularly political home and do not even know if my parents voted for the Social Democrats, but there was respect for Olof Palme and a shock over that he was dead.
According to Sammeli, the legacy of Olof Palme remains strong within the Social Democrats today, 40 years after the murder. "Olof Palme is very active within the party even after his death. He is one of the party leaders that we talk about most still, because he was a very clear ideological leader.
His speeches are, for example, well-used within the party still today," she stated. In 2003, Anna Lindh, the then Social Democratic foreign minister, was stabbed to death at NK in Stockholm. Sammeli was politically active when Anna Lindh was stabbed to death, so that murder affected her more personally.
Olof Palme is very active within the party even after his death. He is one of the party leaders that we talk about most still, because he was a very clear ideological leader. His speeches are, for example, well-used within the party still today, so his legacy remains very clearly and has existed since I became politically active in the 1990s.
"I was politically active when Anna Lindh was stabbed to death at NK in Stockholm 2003, so that murder affected me more personally, but we have lost two clear Social Democratic leaders on the open street so it has of course affected the party. And there is a determination that it must not happen again," Sammeli explained.
I was politically active when Anna Lindh was stabbed to death at NK in Stockholm 2003, so that murder affected me more personally, but we have lost two clear Social Democratic leaders on the open street so it has of course affected the party. And there is a determination that it must not happen again.