There is an interesting article on the Economist site right now titled ‘Sweden Leans Left’.
The Economist scribe believes the economic crisis will do the Reinfeldt led Centre Right government in just as it did to Carl Bildts Centre Right government in 1994.
I think its easy to write that when you look at the stats from a cosy London office. Looking at the opinion polls you would say that Reinfeldts government in in for a tough battle. Yet this writer does not mention the fact that the Opposition are headed by an ineffective leader in Mona Sahlin!
Should the Alliance win the Swedish Election this year, a lot of it will be down to the disasterous annoiting of the Toblerone Queen Mona Ingeborg Sahlin to head the Swedish Social Democratic Party.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Almost every time I read an article in the Economist on Sweden, I whince. Its clear they’re non-experts pretending to be authoritative.
Whilst I lean to the right, I usually vote for the candidate who appears most able to do the job. Most decisions don’t require a political philosophy, competence is the biggest job requirement. That’s why the prospect of Mona terrifies me.
If the Social Democrats don’t get in then they will have at least learned a hard lesson i.e. going down to the bottom of a gender-defined short-list to find the one candidate who wants the job is not a good way of selecting someone for one of the most important jobs in Sweden. If the Social Democrats get in then everyone in Sweden will learn that hard lesson.
You’ve got to hand it to Mona Sahlin and her PR-people – They are good! Mona got caught red handed with having used government credit cards private purchases to the tune of 50 000 SEK and with a little spin on the press conference Mona manages to get all the attention on the 10 SEK Toblerone she bought. Since then the affair is dubbed “the toblerone affair” and all most people remember is that 10 SEK Toblerone, not the 50 000 SEK. Or that since then, the government debt collector has been chasing her several times SINCE then, for, among other things, taxes owed.
Oh, and she’s also admitted to paying for services off the book (“betalat svart”), i.e. cheated on taxes. She also coned the phrase: “It’s cool to pay taxe/Det är häftigt att betala skatt”.
It’s obviously the most cool when it’s OTHER people doing the paying.
Regarding the upcoming election though: I am RATHER disappointed with politics of the alliance government during this term. It’s been Social Democrats Light, more than anything.
I used to vote for Moderate party candidates. When I was younger I was a member of the youth division of the party even. Now? No more, not while Fredrik Reinfeldt heads the party. The moderate party used to have among it’s core issues a strong national defense. Now there’s not even an ambition to be able to defend the national borders. The Moderate party used to stand for less government and more individual freedom. Then they enacted the FRA – Law and see no problem with limiting free speech. They used to be a Law and Order party. Doesn’t seem to be the case any more either. The current government defends the state and screws the individual. No different from previous Social Democratic governments. The ONLY real bright spot among the elected officials for the Moderate party (nationally) currently is Camilla Lindberg.
Other than that…
It doesn’t seem to matter much how you vote, you’ll end up voting for Big Brother either way.
I hear you Jacob.
I think Reinfeldt has had to be careful the last four years as he wants a two term government. I guess he has learned the lessons from the last Moderat government of Bildt.
Its fascinating for me to read that Folkpartiet Liberalerna seem more pro defence than the Moderates. Did your read the piece in Svenska Dagbladet from Björklund on fortifying Gotland again?
http://www.svd.se/opinion/ledarsidan/folk-vill-att-sverige-ska-kunna-forsvaras_4103329.svd
In England this would be the language of the Conservatives and never the Liberals. I suspect this is one of those big differences between the politics of UK and Sweden. FP certainly seem more to the Right.
I hope if the Alliance win this year that they will bring more sweeping change to Sweden.
Oh and Camilla is one of ours (FP)
Hi there, Shane.
It’s been a while. I guess my shame over mistaking Camilla’s political allegiance kept me from responding. I did know that she’s a FP member. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been swinging over towards FP myself. Her and Björklund himself. And Sabuni’s impressed me abit too. Reinfelt is too darn dominant in the government though. And in his party.
I read the piece in SVD that you refereed too. And the one that you linked too as well…
I’m a subscriber of SVD. I remember that back when you made a post about starting a subscription to DN to help learning Swedish, I was thinking of making a reply urging you to try SVD instead. SVD seemed to me to be more in line with the values you show in this blog. Dagens Nyheter (DN) has for decades been shock full of full bloodied communists. Or well, atleast there are more than a few on the staff – especially in the culture section.
It’s not Folkpartiet Liberalerna that’s more pro defence than the Moderates. It’s the FP leader, former army Major Jan Björklund that is more pro defence than Fredrik Reinfeldt. There is still a strong core in the Moderate Party that’s strongly pro defence. Currently all the power in the party lies in Reinfeldts hands though. Just look at how he appointed a Conscientious objector as his Minister of Defence!
Ha thats funny about the Minister of Defence. I can top that though. The Welsh Assembly Government appointed an ardent vegetarian to be Minister of Agriculture!!!
I have stopped reading DN, mainly because I didnt have the time to wade through it each day. So now I read Fokus magazine once a week. I get a lot out of that and really enjoy the read. Not sure what its politics is but I find it gives me the news I need for now. SVD looked a bit wordy for me in the same way the Telegraph would be in the UK. Maybe in a few years when my Swedish is better Jacob!