Gudrun Schyman
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Gudrun Schyman (born June 9, 1948) is a Swedish politician. She served as leader of the Swedish Left Party from 1993 until January 2003, when she was forced to resign over charges of tax fraud. She remained a member of the Left Party until 2004, when she left to focus entirely on her feminist political work. She is still a Member of Parliament.
Schyman began her political career in Marxist-Leninistiska Kampförbundet .
Following the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, Schyman was elected party leader. Vänsterpartiet Kommunisterna (Left Party - Communists) had then evolved into Vänsterpartiet (Left Party).
Schyman's greatest asset was her appeal to the voters, which more than doubled the number of MPs during her leadership. During her period as party president the party adopted feminism as an ideological basis. In 2003 she was charged with misleading the tax authorities by attempting to make illicit tax deductions. She was temporarily succeeded by Ulla Hoffman.
In October 2004, Schyman proposed that men pay an additional "man tax" to cover the cost of domestic violence. Schyman was reported as saying that, "We have to have a discussion so that men understand that they have a collective financial responsibility."
Gudrun Schyman is said to be planning a future Swedish Feminist Party, together with (among others) the feminist literary critic Ebba Witt-Brattström.
See also: Elections in Swedensv:Gudrun Schyman