Amineh Kakabaveh

Amineh Kakabaveh (, ; born 6 December 1970) Having been a member of the Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan since her youth, she took refuge in Sweden at the age of nineteen and has become a member of the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament.

Early life She was born in Saqqez, Iran, As a child, she worked to sustain her family.

Political career Inspired by the French movement Ni Putes Ni Soumises ("Neither Whores nor Doormats"), Kakabaveh founded in 2005 the feminist and anti-racist organization . After the 2006 Swedish general election, she became a member of the Riksdag as a substitute Member of Parliament in 2008. In 2019, she was threatened to be expelled from the Left Party as a result of a prolonged conflict with the party leadership. Before the issue was settled, she left the party voluntarily.

Parliament members cannot be expelled by their parties, so she remained as a member of the parliament. After the 2018 Swedish general election, the Swedish Social Democratic Party coalition had only one member more than the oppositions, so when Kakabaveh became party-less, the government lost their majority. In the 2021 Swedish government crisis, Kakabaveh did not want to support the government. Only after agreeing to some political demands from Kakabaveh concerning support of Kurds and criticism of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's treatment of Kurds, the government headed by Magdalena Andersson could be elected. After the Swedish application to NATO, of which Turkey is a member, Turkey demanded that Kakabaveh be extradited due to her support of Kurdish organisations.

Political positions As a politician and opinion maker, Kakabaveh is involved with topics such as honour crimes, women's rights, and secularism. Her work has made her a controversial person within Swedish politics and her own Left Party, but she has also received the title of "Swede of the Year", as awarded by Fokus. In 2017, the Left Party opposed her voicing concern over patriarchal clan structures in Swedish suburbs, alleging that it would lead to further Islamophobia; according to Kakabaveh, the party tried to prevent her re-election to the parliament.

After the fall out within the Left Party in 2019, Kakabaveh resigned her party membership and remained a member of the parliament as an independent politician. She has demanded a better treatment for the about 400,000 immigrants Sweden has received since 2012. In 2018, she saw the immigration policy as naive, and not efficient enough.

Personal life

She has been threatened in the past, and according to herself she has also received protection by the Swedish Security Service (SÄPO).