Swedish SAP leader might resign

[Gustaf]

The leader of the opposition, Hăkan Juholt, has not had a very good week. First the budget he proposed was heavily criticized by the MPs of his own party and he was forced to change it (although he denied that this happened, it did).

Then Ilmar Reepalu, who heads the party in Malmo, third biggest city in the country, proposed a law change that would allow Sweden to deport immigrants who recently acquired citizenship, effectively creating an apartheid state with second-class citizens. Surprisingly, the party spokesman on crime came out in the media supporting the measure. Juholt then shot the idea down in public. The spokesman then angrily told reporters that Juholt originally sanctioned his support of the proposal, only to shoot it down when criticism mounted.

Finally, all of this paled when the most recent scandal broke. Apparently Juholt has been getting a benefit from the state that MPs can receive to pay rent for their apartment in Stockholm. However, he has shared his apartment with his girlfriend, which means he should only have received half of the money. He claims to have been unaware of this rule, but then his assistant said in an interview that he informed Juholt about it before he sent in his most recent application. Then the assistant was sent off on vacation and could not be reached for further interviews. And then a party spokesman claimed that the assistant had changed his mind. In the wake of this some more irregularities have also surfaced.

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Here I thought the SAP had nowhere to go but up. I was wrong, I suppose. 

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

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Their real problem starts if/when Jonas Sjöholm becomes leader of the left party, and he manages to take the party back to Schyman-era policies, then the party starts to leak towards the left. There are already some signs in polls of it happening.

We could see them fall down to only mid-twenties in popular support.

 

[Heimdal]

Interesting stuff. It is stunning to see how far the Swedish Social Democrats have fallen, considering that they ruled Sweden as a one-party state through most of the post-war era.

But then again. The Swedish government is policy-wise the most exciting centre-right government in all of Europe.

Gustaf/Swedish Cheese: I have read somewhere that the membership of the Swedish trade unions have decreased. Is that so, and if so, why?

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Gustaf/Swedish Cheese: I have read somewhere that the membership of the Swedish trade unions have decreased. Is that so, and if so, why?

Yes Union Membership over here is decreasing, I think mostly because young people don't join them any longer when they enter the workforce. I think many of us youngsters see them as outdated unmoving unnecessary institutions that mostly want to keep young people out in order to protect their older members.

 

[Gustaf]

Interesting stuff. It is stunning to see how far the Swedish Social Democrats have fallen, considering that they ruled Sweden as a one-party state through most of the post-war era.

But then again. The Swedish government is policy-wise the most exciting centre-right government in all of Europe.

Gustaf/Swedish Cheese: I have read somewhere that the membership of the Swedish trade unions have decreased. Is that so, and if so, why?

The trade unions have not been doing a particularly good job of supporting their members, being more focused in political grandstanding. And modern youths are less likely to work at the same company in the same sector all their lives, thus it makes less sense for them to join a specific trade union.