Sweden election results thread (Sept 14, 2014)

[The Lord Marbury]

having a government that only represents 36-37% of voters (less than what an Alliance government would represent) is a pretty unfortunate situation.

Come to canada where we have a dictatorial Conservative majority government that only 39% of the electorate voted for...Margaret Thatcher never won more than 42% of the vote in the UK and it never stopped her from ramming her policies down everyone's throats.

Yes, but there's a big difference between a PR and FPTP system. Thatcher always had a majority of MPs, and Harper had a decent plurality of MPs. The government Löfvén is proposing would have less support in parliament than the main political alternative. I have a hard time seeing Thatcher holding on if Labour had more MPs than her, and Harper holding on if the Liberals had been bigger.

Not that it will be impossible. We should remember that Sweden had a government representing only 11% of the voters, only 35 years ago, and that was before the simplified budget rules that make it easier for minority governments to hold on.

 

 

Whaaaaaaa? How could that have happened?

The centre-right government (Centre-Moderate-Liberal coaliton) under Thorbjörn Fälldin (C) fell apart over the issue of nuclear power and the Liberals were asked to form a minority government by the speaker (also a Liberal). It lasted for a year until the next election when Fälldin became PM again as leader of an identical coalition and the Liberals returned to being a junior partner.

[The Lord Marbury]

The Riksdag is meeting for the first time since the election today in order to elect the new Speaker and three deputy speakers. Urban Ahlin, the Social Democrat's foreign policy spokesman and vice chair of the foreign affairs committee was elected to replace the departing Moderate Per Westerberg. It's funny because Ahlin was not speculated to be a likely candidate in the press, with the prime candidates considered to be Susanne Eberstein (1st deputy speaker, 2010-2014) and Björn von Sydow (Speaker, 2002-2006). Ahlin was probably given the job partly as a consolation prize because he won't become Foreign Minister (that honor will likely go the far more well known and popular Margot Wallström), although he certainly is one of the Social Democrat's most experienced parliamentarians.

The Left also caused a bit of a fuzz by requesting a secret ballot for the appointment of the 2nd deputy speaker which according to praxis will go to the Sweden Democrats as the third biggest party. This, according to them, in order to allow for MPs from other parties to vote blank instead of SDs candidate Björn Söder being confirmed by a simple voice vote. This however means that the vote is conducted three times in a row because a candidate is required to garner the support of a majority of MPs for the first two votes. In the second vote most of the Riksdag voted blank, while Björn Söder got the support of all of SDs group and 7 MPs from other parties. The finally tally will probably look something like that as well.

[The Lord Marbury]

Söder (SD) is now officially elected as 2nd deputy speaker. The finally tally was 292 blank votes, 52 for Söder.

[The Lord Marbury]

Söder (SD) is now officially elected as 2nd deputy speaker. The finally tally was 292 blank votes, 52 for Söder.

Why they just did not voted for somebody else? This sounds stupid.

Because established praxis is that the third biggest party gets the post of 2nd deputy speaker. All parties besides the Left had announced that they would stick to that and there were no other candidates nominated for the position so the only options were voting for Söder or voting blank. Understandably most MPs from other parties felt uncomfortable voting for a Sweden Democrat so they voted blank.

[The Lord Marbury]

Amusingly, the new speaker is the guy who said his party had SD's immigration policy way before they did, the deputy speaker is the migration minister who said some weird stuff about blonde and blue eyed people and the 2nd deputy is, well, Björn Söder. Not the best trio to underscore Sweden's tolerance and openness.

Also, the Greens are giving up their opposition to armed forces and pensions. The SAP is dropping their opposition to labour migration. I'm pretty happy so far.

The Greens were opposed to pensions? Why? What does this mean?

They were opposed to the pensions agreement struck between the Social Democrats and centre-right parties in 1994 during the early 90s economic crisis.

[The Lord Marbury]

Also, the Greens are giving up their opposition to armed forces and pensions. The SAP is dropping their opposition to labour migration. I'm pretty happy so far.

The Greens are opposed to pensions?

It was asked earlier and answered in reply 277.

Sorry, didn't realise we'd started a new page.

What are the main ambitions/policies of the new government?

To stay in power, i.e. not have any ambitions or policies.

Well, in theory they want to improve education and employment I think. They're making high school compulsory for some unfathomable reason. At least I hope they're not sticking to the insane idea they proposed a year back of cutting off high school dropouts from all welfare, leaving them to starve to death on the sidewalk.

When it comes to employment it's less clear but hopefully we'll get a an industry chancellor. I say hopefully because it's a badass name.

Unfathomable? I think it's unfathomable to just give up on students and treat it as a fact that some students will always be tired and disinterested in schoolwork and can't be helped by competent teachers. Unemployment amongst those without high school degrees is several times higher than the rest of the population so on the labour market today having a high school degree is a de facto requirement to get a job. 15 year olds are also not mature enough to make such a major decision in regards to their future, god knows I have several friends stuck in unemployment today who say their biggest regret is having been so stupid by dropping out of school.

[The Lord Marbury]

Also, the Greens are giving up their opposition to armed forces and pensions. The SAP is dropping their opposition to labour migration. I'm pretty happy so far.

The Greens are opposed to pensions?

It was asked earlier and answered in reply 277.

Sorry, didn't realise we'd started a new page.

What are the main ambitions/policies of the new government?

To stay in power, i.e. not have any ambitions or policies.

Well, in theory they want to improve education and employment I think. They're making high school compulsory for some unfathomable reason. At least I hope they're not sticking to the insane idea they proposed a year back of cutting off high school dropouts from all welfare, leaving them to starve to death on the sidewalk.

When it comes to employment it's less clear but hopefully we'll get a an industry chancellor. I say hopefully because it's a badass name.

Unfathomable? I think it's unfathomable to just give up on students and treat it as a fact that some students will always be tired and disinterested in schoolwork and can't be helped by competent teachers. Unemployment amongst those without high school degrees is several times higher than the rest of the population so on the labour market today having a high school degree is a de facto requirement to get a job. 15 year olds are also not mature enough to make such a major decision in regards to their future, god knows I have several friends stuck in unemployment today who say their biggest regret is having been so stupid by dropping out of school.

What about vocational training and apprenticeships? High school (even the semi-practical programs) is not for everyone.

Well the previous government removed the requirement that all high school programs should make students qualified to apply for college studies and instituted some 2-year vocational programs that don't make qualified for university studies, however all of those have fallen far below expectations with fewer and fewer people applying to them for every year since they were created. It's been tried but it failed.

[The Lord Marbury]

Also, the Greens are giving up their opposition to armed forces and pensions. The SAP is dropping their opposition to labour migration. I'm pretty happy so far.

The Greens are opposed to pensions?

It was asked earlier and answered in reply 277.

Sorry, didn't realise we'd started a new page.

What are the main ambitions/policies of the new government?

To stay in power, i.e. not have any ambitions or policies.

Well, in theory they want to improve education and employment I think. They're making high school compulsory for some unfathomable reason. At least I hope they're not sticking to the insane idea they proposed a year back of cutting off high school dropouts from all welfare, leaving them to starve to death on the sidewalk.

When it comes to employment it's less clear but hopefully we'll get a an industry chancellor. I say hopefully because it's a badass name.

Unfathomable? I think it's unfathomable to just give up on students and treat it as a fact that some students will always be tired and disinterested in schoolwork and can't be helped by competent teachers. Unemployment amongst those without high school degrees is several times higher than the rest of the population so on the labour market today having a high school degree is a de facto requirement to get a job. 15 year olds are also not mature enough to make such a major decision in regards to their future, god knows I have several friends stuck in unemployment today who say their biggest regret is having been so stupid by dropping out of school.

What about vocational training and apprenticeships? High school (even the semi-practical programs) is not for everyone.

Well the previous government removed the requirement that all high school programs should make students qualified to apply for college studies and instituted some 2-year vocational programs, however all of those have fallen far below expectations with fewer and fewer people applying to them for every year since they were created. It's been tried but it failed.

I am not saying that we shouldn't address high school drop-outs. I am saying that forcing them to go to school is probably not the solution. I think we should rather invest in teaching our kids stuff earlier on.

I taught failing pupils who were 14-15 and some of them couldn't read or do basic arithmetic. Saying they have to attend high school a year later isn't going to help anyone.

I fully agree that we really need to invest in teaching kids stuff earlier on, but saying that it's fine for them to drop out and go into unemployment and drift towards the fringes of society at the age 15 doesn't help anyone either. We need to both invest education early and in those who have lagged far behind, for example by hiring more special educators who can give them extra time. And if they still drop out of high school at the age of 18 at least they'll have much less to complement later in adulthood in order to finally get a degree.

[The Lord Marbury]

Good news about some agreements struck between S & MP today. 1) The time limit in the health insurance will be removed because sick people obviously won't get healthy by cutting off their income. 2) The ceiling in the unemployment insurance will be raised for the first time since 2001 and the recipients will get 80% of their wage for the whole period because reducing unemployed people's small income and forcing them to rely on families and good will to get by won't get them back into employment either.

My biggest wish right now is that rightwingers would just stop painting our public insurance system as handouts to people who don't want to work. Yeah, like that is ever going to happen...

[The Lord Marbury]

Things seem to be heading down an interesting path politically here in Umeå where I live, with it looking like S will go for governing in a minority instead of continuing the coalition with V from the previous term. Not exactly unsurprising as the parties have had a tough time working together and there certainly hasn't been any good personal chemistry between local party chairpersons. Outgoing Mayor Lennart Holmlund who is generally known for saying stuff before thinking and not having any filter whatsoever, even called the Left's local leader Tamara Spiric "that damn bitch who runs around spreading lies" a few day before the election, with the local Social Democratic party's new leaders and Holmlund's successor being forced to go out and publically apologize. God I'm so happy the old geezer is gone now, I've only lived in the city for a year and I already despise him.

Holmlund's successor Hans Lindgren, who seems to actually be capable of speaking to the media without offending someone unlike his predecessor, has already said that he sees several issues, especially related to growth and jobs, where the Social Democrats can work with the Moderates across party bloc lines, and his counterpart in the Moderates agreed to that so the coming term will certainly be interestning. Though there won't be a full scale official coalition because S will probably pass some of its other reforms like small scale implementation of a 6-hour workday for some municipal employees (like in elderly care) to investigate if it leads to a reduction in the sick leave numbers.

[The Lord Marbury]

Here's Sweden's new cabinet. The biggest surprises are certainly the picks for Minister of Culture, Minister of Social Security and Minister for Equality who comes from outside of party politics. The post of Minister for Integration is also abolished, with the reasoning that a integration policy needs to be an important of all political areas.

Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister: Stefan Löfven, S
-Leader of the Social Democratic Worker's Party, 2012-
-Chair of labour union IF Metall, 2006-2012
-Vice chair of the Swedish Trade Council, 2004-2012
Minister for Strategy, Future and Nordic Cooperation: Kristina Persson, S
-Deputy governor of the Bank of Sweden, 2001-2007

Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Minister for Foreign Affairs: Margot Wallström, S
-UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict zones, 2010-2012
-First Vice President of the European Commission, 2004-2010
-European commissioner for the environment, 1999-2004
Minister for International Development: Isabella Lövin, MP
-Member of the European Parliament, 2009-

Ministry of Justice
Minister for Justice: Morgan Johansson, S
-Minister for Public Health, 2002-2006
-Member of Parliament, 1998-
Minister for the Interior: Anders Ygeman, S
-Member of Parliament, 1995-

Ministry of Defense
Minister for Defense: Peter Hultqvist, S
-Chair of the parliamentary defense committee, 2011-
-Member of Parliament, 2006-

Ministry of Social Affairs
Minister for Social Security: Annika Strandhäll, S
-Chair of the municipal, county and church employees' trade union Vision, 2011-
Minister for Public Health, Care Services, and Sports: Gabriel Wikström, S
-Chair of the Social Democratic Youth League, 2011-
Minister for Children, Elderly and Gender Equality: Åsa Regnér, S
-Chair of the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education, 2007-2011

Ministry of Finance
Minister for Finance: Magdalena Andersson, S
-Director-General of the Swedish Tax Agency, 2009-2012
-State Secretary in the Finance Minstry, 2004-2006
-Head of planning in the Prime Minister's Office, 1998-2004
Minister for Financial Markets and Consumer Affairs: Per Bolund, MP
-Green Party spokesperson on economic policy, 2011-
Minister for Civil Affairs: Ardalan Shekarabi, S
-Member of Parliament, 2013-
-Chair of the Social Democratic Youth League, 2003-2005

Ministry of Education
Minister for Education: Gustav Fridolin, MP
-Spokesperson for the Green Party, 2011-
-Member of Parliament, 2002-2006; 2010-
Minister for High Schools and Knowledge: Aida Hadzialic, S
-Mayor of Halmstad, 2010-2014
Minister for Higher Education and Research: Helen Hellmark Knutsson, S
-Leader of the Social Democrats in Stockholm county, 2013-

Ministry of the Environment
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for the Environment and Climate Change: Åsa Romson, MP
-Spokesperson for the Green Party, 2011-
-Member of Parliament, 2010-
-Juris doctor in environmental law
Minister for Energy: Ibrahim Baylan, S
-Minister for Schools, 2004-2006
-Member of Parliament, 2006-

Ministry of Enterprise, Infrastructure and Rural Affairs
Minister for Enterprise and Innovations: Mikael Damberg, S
-Party group leader for the Social Democrats in the Riksdag, 2012-
-Member of Parliament, 2002-
-Chair of the Social Democratic Youth League, 1999-2003
Minister for Housing and Urban Development: Mehmet Kaplan, MP
-Member of Parliament, 2006-
Minister for Infrastructure: Anna Johansson, S
-Member of Parliament, 2014-
-Leader of the Social Democrats in Gothenburg municipality, 2009-
Minister for Rural Affairs: Sven-Erik Bucht, S
-Member of Parliament, 2010-
-Mayor of Haparanda, 2003-2010

Ministry of Culture and Democracy
Minister for Culture and Democracy: Alice Bah Kuhnke, MP
-Chair of the Swedish Youth Board, 2013-
-Former TV personality
-co-founder of think-thank Sektor 3

Ministry of Employment
Minister for Employment: Ylva Johansson, S
-Minister for Care Services, 2004-2006
-Minister for Schools, 1994-1998
-Member of Parliament, 1988-1991; 1994-1998; 2002-

[The Lord Marbury]

When I saw Wikström at the SSU congress last year he looked to be a bit above average height, but nothing you really notice. Shekarabi looked quite short when Aftonbladet TV interviewed him as well so it's probably him.