Split & Splinter

Sweden's Communist Party set up business by splitting away from the Social Democrats in 1919 and never got over its splintering ways. In split No. 2, in 1926, most of the original Communists went back to the socialists. In split No. 3, the Kilbom Communists (after their leader, Karl Kilbom) seceded; the majority eventually returned to the Social Democratic fold, others became pro-Nazis. In 1949 there was a new splintering: Party Boss Sven Linderot was ousted by the triumvirate of Set Persson, Hilding Hagberg and Fritiof Lager. In each case, the cause of the breakup was opposition to Soviet domination of the party.

Last week Sweden's Reds met again, only to split again. An obscure Communist M.P. rose at the 16th Party Congress, accused Persson, the No. 3 party leader, of showing a "lack of solidarity," and recommended that he quit. Persson, one of the Reds' ablest orators, stammered: "I intend to take your advice." He did, and will probably return to the Social Democrats. Persson's crime was a familiar one: he opposed Moscow's order for a revival of the old "popular front" tactics. This left Sweden's dwindling Communist Party (which is down to 20,000 members, one-third its peak postwar strength) in the hands of Hagberg and Lager--until the next split.

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