The Joke Republic Of Jämtland Isn’t Really A Joke Anymore

BY KLARA SUNESON
PHOTOS BY KRISTIAN BENGTSSON

President Ewert Ljusberg in his presidential caravan.

President Ewert Ljusberg entering Storsjöyran’s main stage on a zeppelin in 1998. Image courtesy of Storsjöyran. Har du hört den förut?

Young Jamts cheering the president and singing along to the national anthem.

Vice: Hello, president of the Jamts, what’s up with all the roadblocks and kidnappings?
Ewert Ljusberg: Laws?
So what’s your role in all this?
Did you pick the beer out yourself?
How did you become president? Was there a democratic election?
What do the king and prime minister of Sweden think of the Republic of Jämtland and you being president?

This JRA guy looked super proud when waving the flag and singing old Jamtlandic tunes and ABBA songs during the community singing the night before. When I asked him what the JRA do during the winter, when they’re not busy preparing the festival, he made it sound like they’re very, very busy liberating the republic from the ”Big Swede”, and that “on the republic’s national day in March, we hijacked a bus and told the driver he couldn’t charge anyone, so everyone got to ride for free.” He was so excited about it that he was wiggling his toes when telling me the story.

The JRA take great pride in making these fried, greasy elk pancakes called ”Kolbulle”, which is Jämtland’s national dish. They sell them for £4—a robbery—and serve them to you in a napkin. You’re supposed to eat the napkin too: there’s so much grease it all merges together. So if it’s all a gag, why do you lot seem serious about it?
So what are you fighting for? What’s your goal?
What about the Liberation Movement and the JRA?
Yep. Things change. I remember you throwing made-up Jamtlandic currency into the crowd in 2003. I thought that was because you wanted Jämtland to be completely independent and have its own currency.
How do you feel about the republic’s patriotism being criticised in local papers?

The 20,000-strong crowd watching the president speak.

Your entrances at the yearly State of the Nation speech are infamous. Especially the ones when you rode in on an elephant, flew in on a zeppelin, and slid in on a ropeway dressed as Robin Hood.
You should try riding an elk next year. Is that doable?
Right. Um, so… do you get paid to be the president? Do you have taxes?
Not really. Does it make sense to you?
To watch this year’s presidential speech, in which Ljusberg enters the stage disguised as a hipster DJ, visit yrantv.se.