Sweden election 2022

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Yes, it's a well-known fact that people associated with European far and extreme Right movements never attack synagogues.

Anyway, while the worst and most violent antisemitic incidents in Sweden over the past few decades have been carried out by immigrants, antisemitic remarks from Sweden Democrat politicians have been, to say the least, frequent and nothing serious has been done by the party to address this. While it is true that they're hardly the only Swedish party to have had senior figures say awful things about Jews over the past twenty years (a fact that should embarrass everyone else if you ask me, but that's another story), I do not think that lionizing them over this issue is honest or sensible.

Violet attacks are the ones that matter, since those are the ones where people die. As someone who has been all over Europe, I felt safer as a Jew in Sweden and Scandinavia at large than anywhere else.

It also says something that such a progressive populace would elect anti-immigration politicians.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

So today is the day we get our moment of truth. SVT has contacted all 16 Liberal MPs to ask how they will vote. 7 responded that they will vote for Kristersson for PM, the remaining 9 have not answered.

It's very likely that he will be elected, but then the real work begins on passing actual policies. Already they will have a loaded agenda right out of the gate: needing to pass the electricity price cap they promised during the campaign to be in place by November 1st (virtually impossible to make happen, but they can do it retroactively), the budget for Spring 2023 is due in about one month, etc.

The budget fight will be interesting. While the four parties agreed to negotiate it amongst themselves, some in the Liberals are saying they should seek broad consensus. It will also be interesting to see what they prioritize in the budget. The head of the police union was critical that the agreement included no mention on police salaries or hiring budgets, and the outgoing head of the Riksbank was critical of the projected deficit spending that would result from the combination of increased spending and tax cuts, as well as the planned changes in mortgage amortization requirements. The Financial Supervisory Authority is also deeply critical of the amortization proposals.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Nooshi Dadgostar is giving an absolutely firey speech right now. she called out Kristersson, Busch, and Pehrsson by name and made direct eye contact with them. Was she always this good? Magda isn't here and she is delivering for both of them goddamn

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Kristersson is elected with 176 in favor, 173 against, no defections.


Now he must meet the King tomorrow at the Royal Palace and this will mark the official transition of power.

[Ex-Assemblyman Steelers]

Do we know government line-up?

[KaiserDave]

Yes, the Swedish Democrats...known defender of the Swedish Jews.

The party's first auditor, Gustaf Ekström, was a Waffen-SS veteran and had been a member of the national socialist party Svensk Socialistisk Samling in the 1940s

Early on, the party recommended international connections to its members such as the National Democratic Party of Germany, the American National Association for the Advancement of White People (founded by David Duke) and publications like the Nazi Nation Europa and Nouvelle École, a newspaper that advocates racial biology and the British neo-Nazi Combat 18 movement.

Oh my...

Well I'm just positive they've changed . Jimmie Åkesson is just so trustworthy!

[KaiserDave]

Seriously, SD is not a Neo-Nazi party currently, and they're much better at controlling their fringe then AfD but they are not a friend of Swedish Jews and lionizing them as defenders against anti-semitism (especially given their roots) is just so naive.

[If my soul was made of stone]

(and of course, SD is nothing like AfD or even RN. This is relevant too)

The difference is the fact that you and plenty of Swedish voters think this and are made to think they can believe this comfortably, not any substantial ipso facto difference.

[If my soul was made of stone]

The SD isn't that right wing compared to parties like the AfD, and the PM is more moderate still. This is an important moment to protect the LGBT+ community, women, Jews, and integrated immigrants.

what exactly would sd do to benefit any of those groups

They would protect LGBT+ people from the horde of scary Muslims secret homophobes who consider it a western perversion inside V, women from the horde of scary Muslims patriarchal apologists for forced marriages inside V, Jews from the horde of scary Muslims crazy Méluchistes/Corbynites inside V and integrated immigrants from the horde of scary Muslims gang criminals who refuse to integrate inside V. Of course.

I don’t hate Muslims. But Islamic immigrants to Sweden are a lot different to Muslims in the US. If you immigrate to the US, you most certainly don’t think of the US as a empire of infidels or whatever. You can go to Sweden and think that. This is also why rape statistics among Muslims in the US are the same if not lower than the non-Muslim populace, while the stats for Muslims in Sweden (and Norway too, for that matter) are much higher. Hell, Osama Bin Laden lives in Sweden for a while.

These non-integrationists also harm migrants who do want to adapt to Scandinavian society. They are also more conservative, with over 50% of Muslim migrants in the UK supporting Sharia Law. In countries like Sweden- where support for the LGBTQ+ community is standard across the political spectrum- these people can make up the majority of violent homophobes.

But I very much support refugees and immigrants who do want to integrate- half my mandatory service hours I need to graduate were spent preparing food and assistance for Afghan refugees, for instance.

This is pretty much the standard position of European far right parties, yes. Which you might want to take into consideration in the future.

And funnily enough, these parties are typically infested with antisemitism, misogyny and LGBT-phobia because, shock revelation, people who are bigoted tend to have bigoted views on any issues.

The far right hates immigration because they hate Muslims because they are racist. I am merely concerned with the destruction of the tolerant, welcoming society that exists in Sweden and Scandinavia at large.

Shock revelation, when you come from a country where being gay is punishable by death and where 98%+ of the population have a negative opinion of Jews, you don’t leave said views when you arrive in Sweden.

On the contrary, integrated Muslims in Europe and virtually all Muslims in the US are some of the biggest contributors to society.

It's very disheartening to see that this line of thought pushed by War on Terror propagandists twenty years ago still persists when they never believed it to begin with.

[Helsinkian]

If your only evidence for SD's nazism involves going back to people who left the party decades ago or died decades ago, at some point you start to sound like the people who say that the US Democrats are a racist party because of Robert Byrd's KKK membership or because of Andrew Jackson's racist views.

If you acknowledge that the US Democrats have changed, why do you refuse to believe that the Sweden Democrats can change?

[KaiserDave]

If your only evidence for SD's nazism involves going back to people who left the party decades ago or died decades ago, at some point you start to sound like the people who say that the US Democrats are a racist party because of Robert Byrd's KKK membership or because of Andrew Jackson's racist views.

If you acknowledge that the US Democrats have changed, why do you refuse to believe that the Sweden Democrats can change?

I expected this argument immediately after I posted, but you know its actually different when SD is founded in 1988 and not the 1830s. 

I'm not arguing that SD is currently a Neo-Nazi party anyway? So not sure what you're talking about. What they do have is very recent Neo-Nazi roots, and very current inclinations towards anti-semitism and ethnic nationalism. This is cause for concern, and casting them as the great defenders of Swedish Jews is incredibly stupid.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

The SD isn't that right wing compared to parties like the AfD, and the PM is more moderate still. This is an important moment to protect the LGBT+ community, women, Jews, and integrated immigrants.

what exactly would sd do to benefit any of those groups

They would protect LGBT+ people from the horde of scary Muslims secret homophobes who consider it a western perversion inside V, women from the horde of scary Muslims patriarchal apologists for forced marriages inside V, Jews from the horde of scary Muslims crazy Méluchistes/Corbynites inside V and integrated immigrants from the horde of scary Muslims gang criminals who refuse to integrate inside V. Of course.

I don’t hate Muslims. But Islamic immigrants to Sweden are a lot different to Muslims in the US. If you immigrate to the US, you most certainly don’t think of the US as a empire of infidels or whatever. You can go to Sweden and think that. This is also why rape statistics among Muslims in the US are the same if not lower than the non-Muslim populace, while the stats for Muslims in Sweden (and Norway too, for that matter) are much higher. Hell, Osama Bin Laden lives in Sweden for a while.

These non-integrationists also harm migrants who do want to adapt to Scandinavian society. They are also more conservative, with over 50% of Muslim migrants in the UK supporting Sharia Law. In countries like Sweden- where support for the LGBTQ+ community is standard across the political spectrum- these people can make up the majority of violent homophobes.

But I very much support refugees and immigrants who do want to integrate- half my mandatory service hours I need to graduate were spent preparing food and assistance for Afghan refugees, for instance.

This is pretty much the standard position of European far right parties, yes. Which you might want to take into consideration in the future.

And funnily enough, these parties are typically infested with antisemitism, misogyny and LGBT-phobia because, shock revelation, people who are bigoted tend to have bigoted views on any issues.

The far right hates immigration because they hate Muslims because they are racist. I am merely concerned with the destruction of the tolerant, welcoming society that exists in Sweden and Scandinavia at large.

Shock revelation, when you come from a country where being gay is punishable by death and where 98%+ of the population have a negative opinion of Jews, you don’t leave said views when you arrive in Sweden.

On the contrary, integrated Muslims in Europe and virtually all Muslims in the US are some of the biggest contributors to society.

It's very disheartening to see that this line of thought pushed by War on Terror propagandists twenty years ago still persists when they never believed it to begin with.

What here is propaganda? It's routinely recorded in surveys in Arab countries that anti-Semitism reaches above 95% of the populace, and countries freely admit they kill gay people.

The people migrating to Sweden don't lose decades of hatred just because they cross the Mediterranean. This can be observed by the vast overrepresentation of migrants among rape statistics, for instance.

The frequency of which leftists such as yourself go to bat for people who are anti-Women, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ+ (#1 and #3 of which apply to you) never ceases to amaze me.

[parochial boy]

The SD isn't that right wing compared to parties like the AfD, and the PM is more moderate still. This is an important moment to protect the LGBT+ community, women, Jews, and integrated immigrants.

what exactly would sd do to benefit any of those groups

They would protect LGBT+ people from the horde of scary Muslims secret homophobes who consider it a western perversion inside V, women from the horde of scary Muslims patriarchal apologists for forced marriages inside V, Jews from the horde of scary Muslims crazy Méluchistes/Corbynites inside V and integrated immigrants from the horde of scary Muslims gang criminals who refuse to integrate inside V. Of course.

I don’t hate Muslims. But Islamic immigrants to Sweden are a lot different to Muslims in the US. If you immigrate to the US, you most certainly don’t think of the US as a empire of infidels or whatever. You can go to Sweden and think that. This is also why rape statistics among Muslims in the US are the same if not lower than the non-Muslim populace, while the stats for Muslims in Sweden (and Norway too, for that matter) are much higher. Hell, Osama Bin Laden lives in Sweden for a while.

These non-integrationists also harm migrants who do want to adapt to Scandinavian society. They are also more conservative, with over 50% of Muslim migrants in the UK supporting Sharia Law. In countries like Sweden- where support for the LGBTQ+ community is standard across the political spectrum- these people can make up the majority of violent homophobes.

But I very much support refugees and immigrants who do want to integrate- half my mandatory service hours I need to graduate were spent preparing food and assistance for Afghan refugees, for instance.

This is pretty much the standard position of European far right parties, yes. Which you might want to take into consideration in the future.

And funnily enough, these parties are typically infested with antisemitism, misogyny and LGBT-phobia because, shock revelation, people who are bigoted tend to have bigoted views on any issues.

The far right hates immigration because they hate Muslims because they are racist. I am merely concerned with the destruction of the tolerant, welcoming society that exists in Sweden and Scandinavia at large.

Shock revelation, when you come from a country where being gay is punishable by death and where 98%+ of the population have a negative opinion of Jews, you don’t leave said views when you arrive in Sweden.

On the contrary, integrated Muslims in Europe and virtually all Muslims in the US are some of the biggest contributors to society.

It's very disheartening to see that this line of thought pushed by War on Terror propagandists twenty years ago still persists when they never believed it to begin with.

What here is propaganda? It's routinely recorded in surveys in Arab countries that anti-Semitism reaches above 95% of the populace, and countries freely admit they kill gay people.

The people migrating to Sweden don't lose decades of hatred just because they cross the Mediterranean. This can be observed by the vast overrepresentation of migrants among rape statistics, for instance.

The frequency of which leftists such as yourself go to bat for people who are anti-Women, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ+ (#1 and #3 of which apply to you) never ceases to amaze me.

And considering your hatred of Muslims, should you also not be allowed into Sweden as a threat to their "history of tolerance"?

Claiming to somehow be a defender of tolerance and openness while simulataneously justifying the hatred, exclusion and scapegoating of one specific ethnic group is hypocritical. The idea behind human rights is that they are universal, not conditional on the good behaviour of your compatriots.

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

The SD isn't that right wing compared to parties like the AfD, and the PM is more moderate still. This is an important moment to protect the LGBT+ community, women, Jews, and integrated immigrants.

what exactly would sd do to benefit any of those groups

They would protect LGBT+ people from the horde of scary Muslims secret homophobes who consider it a western perversion inside V, women from the horde of scary Muslims patriarchal apologists for forced marriages inside V, Jews from the horde of scary Muslims crazy Méluchistes/Corbynites inside V and integrated immigrants from the horde of scary Muslims gang criminals who refuse to integrate inside V. Of course.

I don’t hate Muslims. But Islamic immigrants to Sweden are a lot different to Muslims in the US. If you immigrate to the US, you most certainly don’t think of the US as a empire of infidels or whatever. You can go to Sweden and think that. This is also why rape statistics among Muslims in the US are the same if not lower than the non-Muslim populace, while the stats for Muslims in Sweden (and Norway too, for that matter) are much higher. Hell, Osama Bin Laden lives in Sweden for a while.

These non-integrationists also harm migrants who do want to adapt to Scandinavian society. They are also more conservative, with over 50% of Muslim migrants in the UK supporting Sharia Law. In countries like Sweden- where support for the LGBTQ+ community is standard across the political spectrum- these people can make up the majority of violent homophobes.

But I very much support refugees and immigrants who do want to integrate- half my mandatory service hours I need to graduate were spent preparing food and assistance for Afghan refugees, for instance.

This is pretty much the standard position of European far right parties, yes. Which you might want to take into consideration in the future.

And funnily enough, these parties are typically infested with antisemitism, misogyny and LGBT-phobia because, shock revelation, people who are bigoted tend to have bigoted views on any issues.

The far right hates immigration because they hate Muslims because they are racist. I am merely concerned with the destruction of the tolerant, welcoming society that exists in Sweden and Scandinavia at large.

Shock revelation, when you come from a country where being gay is punishable by death and where 98%+ of the population have a negative opinion of Jews, you don’t leave said views when you arrive in Sweden.

On the contrary, integrated Muslims in Europe and virtually all Muslims in the US are some of the biggest contributors to society.

It's very disheartening to see that this line of thought pushed by War on Terror propagandists twenty years ago still persists when they never believed it to begin with.

It's very disheartening that people born after 2002 are trying to be novel Fortuynists.

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

The SD isn't that right wing compared to parties like the AfD, and the PM is more moderate still. This is an important moment to protect the LGBT+ community, women, Jews, and integrated immigrants.

what exactly would sd do to benefit any of those groups

They would protect LGBT+ people from the horde of scary Muslims secret homophobes who consider it a western perversion inside V, women from the horde of scary Muslims patriarchal apologists for forced marriages inside V, Jews from the horde of scary Muslims crazy Méluchistes/Corbynites inside V and integrated immigrants from the horde of scary Muslims gang criminals who refuse to integrate inside V. Of course.

I don’t hate Muslims. But Islamic immigrants to Sweden are a lot different to Muslims in the US. If you immigrate to the US, you most certainly don’t think of the US as a empire of infidels or whatever. You can go to Sweden and think that. This is also why rape statistics among Muslims in the US are the same if not lower than the non-Muslim populace, while the stats for Muslims in Sweden (and Norway too, for that matter) are much higher. Hell, Osama Bin Laden lives in Sweden for a while.

These non-integrationists also harm migrants who do want to adapt to Scandinavian society. They are also more conservative, with over 50% of Muslim migrants in the UK supporting Sharia Law. In countries like Sweden- where support for the LGBTQ+ community is standard across the political spectrum- these people can make up the majority of violent homophobes.

But I very much support refugees and immigrants who do want to integrate- half my mandatory service hours I need to graduate were spent preparing food and assistance for Afghan refugees, for instance.

This is pretty much the standard position of European far right parties, yes. Which you might want to take into consideration in the future.

And funnily enough, these parties are typically infested with antisemitism, misogyny and LGBT-phobia because, shock revelation, people who are bigoted tend to have bigoted views on any issues.

The far right hates immigration because they hate Muslims because they are racist. I am merely concerned with the destruction of the tolerant, welcoming society that exists in Sweden and Scandinavia at large.

Shock revelation, when you come from a country where being gay is punishable by death and where 98%+ of the population have a negative opinion of Jews, you don’t leave said views when you arrive in Sweden.

On the contrary, integrated Muslims in Europe and virtually all Muslims in the US are some of the biggest contributors to society.

It's very disheartening to see that this line of thought pushed by War on Terror propagandists twenty years ago still persists when they never believed it to begin with.

What here is propaganda? It's routinely recorded in surveys in Arab countries that anti-Semitism reaches above 95% of the populace, and countries freely admit they kill gay people.

The people migrating to Sweden don't lose decades of hatred just because they cross the Mediterranean. This can be observed by the vast overrepresentation of migrants among rape statistics, for instance.

The frequency of which leftists such as yourself go to bat for people who are anti-Women, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ+ (#1 and #3 of which apply to you) never ceases to amaze me.

And considering your hatred of Muslims, should you also not be allowed into Sweden as a threat to their "history of tolerance"?

Claiming to somehow be a defender of tolerance and openness while simulataneously justifying the hatred, exclusion and scapegoating of one specific ethnic group is hypocritical. The idea behind human rights is that they are universal, not conditional on the good behaviour of your compatriots.

I don't hate Muslims. I was just saying that if you take 100 migrants from Syria, most of them will be anti-Semitic and have backwards views on women's and gay rights. That's not actually their fault in many ways, since it's an ingrained part of society in those places (another thing to thank Netanyahu and the rest of the Israeli fascist clowncar for).


In Norway migrants are required to go through classes on Norwegian culture including respect for women, etc. Sweden takes in 2% of it's population each year, so it doesn't have much time or resources to integrate them. This is particularly hard for children.

By requiring new arrivals to go through classes on Scandinavian culture, you could also:

-Protect migrants who wish to integrate (the majority)
-Reduce the popularity of far-right parties
-Reduce violence against Muslims

Muslims who do integrate are great for a nation's culture and society as a whole. Just look at all the good that has come from activism by Muslim Americans along with other acheivements in education, medicine, and other fields.

Also, guess who this person in this photo taken in Sweden is:

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Do we know government line-up?

Kristersson presented his government today and the King announced that the change took place shortly after 13.00 CET, so yes, now we do:

Prime Minister: Ulf Kristersson (M)
EU Minister: Jessica Roswall (M)
Justice: Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Migration: Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Foreign: Tobias Billström (M)
Development & Trade: Johan Forssel (M)
Defense: Pål Jonson (M)
Civil Defense: Carl-Oscar Bohlin (M)
Social Services: Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Elderly & Social Insruance: Anna Tenje (M)
Finance: Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Financial Markets: Niklas Wykman (M)
Culture: Parisa Liljestrand (M)

Social Affairs: Jacob Forssmend (KD)
Healthcare: Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)
Civil Affairs: Erik Slottner (KD)
Energy & Industry: Ebba Busch (KD) -----> she is also the Deputy Prime Minister
Infrastructure & Housing: Andreas Carlson (KD)
Rural Affairs: Peter Kullgren (KD)
Education: Mats Persson (KD)

Schools: Lotta Edholm (L)
Climate & Environment: Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Labor Market & Integration: Johan Pehrson (L)
Gender Equality: Paulina Brandberg (L)


Interestingly, Carl Bildt was asked to be a minister, but turned it down.

Finance Minister Svantesson avoided detailed answers about how quickly relief from high energy costs will come, and if the proposals for 31 billion SEK in tax cuts are still planned as promised during the campaign. Since the budget vote is due in less than one month, she has a lot to do from Day One. Also, the government wants to get in place a high-cost protection ASAP. They promised during the campaign to have it by November 1st, but with negotiations dragging on for longer than anticipated, that is virtually impossible to keep. But they could still have it apply retroactively.

The new Minister for Schools, Lotta Edholm (L), said that she is going to sell her 9,400 SEK in shares in a for-profit education group "today".

Here is the new government:

[Kahane's Grave Is A Gender-Neutral Bathroom]

Do we know government line-up?

Kristersson presented his government today and the King announced that the change took place shortly after 13.00 CET, so yes, now we do:

Prime Minister: Ulf Kristersson (M)
EU Minister: Jessica Roswall (M)
Justice: Gunnar Strömmer (M)
Migration: Maria Malmer Stenergard (M)
Foreign: Tobias Billström (M)
Development & Trade: Johan Forssel (M)
Defense: Pål Jonson (M)
Civil Defense: Carl-Oscar Bohlin (M)
Social Services: Camilla Waltersson Grönvall (M)
Elderly & Social Insruance: Anna Tenje (M)
Finance: Elisabeth Svantesson (M)
Financial Markets: Niklas Wykman (M)
Culture: Parisa Liljestrand (M)

Social Affairs: Jacob Forssmend (KD)
Healthcare: Acko Ankarberg Johansson (KD)
Civil Affairs: Erik Slottner (KD)
Energy & Industry: Ebba Busch (KD) -----> she is also the Deputy Prime Minister
Infrastructure & Housing: Andreas Carlson (KD)
Rural Affairs: Peter Kullgren (KD)
Education: Mats Persson (KD)

Schools: Lotta Edholm (L)
Climate & Environment: Romina Pourmokhtari (L)
Labor Market & Integration: Johan Pehrson (L)
Gender Equality: Paulina Brandberg (L)


Interestingly, Carl Bildt was asked to be a minister, but turned it down.

Finance Minister Svantesson avoided detailed answers about how quickly relief from high energy costs will come, and if the proposals for 31 billion SEK in tax cuts are still planned as promised during the campaign. Since the budget vote is due in less than one month, she has a lot to do from Day One. Also, the government wants to get in place a high-cost protection ASAP. They promised during the campaign to have it by November 1st, but with negotiations dragging on for longer than anticipated, that is virtually impossible to keep. But they could still have it apply retroactively.

The new Minister for Schools, Lotta Edholm (L), said that she is going to sell her 9,400 SEK in shares in a for-profit education group "today".

Excellent cabinet, no complaints.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

Despite our disagreements, I think all of us can take a moment to laugh at how the Liberals constantly get cucked and they just lay down and take it:

The Liberals were awarded the Ministry of the Environment as part of the agreement. They gave the portfolio to Romina Pourmokhtari, the youngest minister ever and was elected from Stockholm, and who was extremely critical of SD before the election. They probably wanted to effectively buy her vote in case she was going to vote against Kristersson, being one of the 176 who belonged to the Kristersson bloc.

Today it was announced that the Environmental Ministry would be abolished as a stand-alone Ministry and instead be put inside of the Ministry for Energy & Industry.

That means that this outspoken young Liberal minister is now tasked with reporting directly to....Ebba Busch.


Truly one of the weakest and most pathetic parties.

[The Lord Marbury]

I'm a bit baffled by the decision to appoint Tobias Billström Foreign Minister. I understand that Carl Bildt supposedly turned down the job, but the Moderates did have many far more qualified candidates, such as Hans Wallmark, Karin Enström or Henrik Landerholm. As far as I'm aware Billström has never been particularly involved with or shown any great deal of interest in foreign policy, and if I had to choose one word to describe him it wouldn't be "diplomatic".

In fact I think he's the first FM since Laila Freivalds back in the mid-2000s to not be considered a foreign policy-oriented politician before his appointment.

It all comes across as a post that was given to him to satisfy internal factions within the Moderates and reward him for years of loyal service. Which is a bit peculiar considering the current geopolitical situation.

[Mike88]

23 ministers plus the PM, isn't that too much? I assume that each minister will get one or two secretaries?

[The Lord Marbury]

23 ministers plus the PM, isn't that too much? I assume that each minister will get one or two secretaries?

It's the same number of ministers that all governments have had at their formation since 2010 (bar Andersson's cabinet which had 22 ministers + the PM). At the time when Reinfeldt appointed so many ministers in 2010 it was somewhat criticized and seen as a way of compensating the junior coalition parties who on account of their size would've ended up with fewer ministers otherwise. But the size seems to have stuck around, probably due to similar considerations taken in the formation of the Social Democrat-Green coalition.

Prior to 2010 Swedish governments generally tended to have somewhere between 18-22 ministers, so it's not exactly a massive increase either.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

So the government's first budget for spring 2023 was presented recently. It's more interesting to see what hasn't been done rather than what has, given the lofty promises during the election campaign.

The conservative bloc promised things such as no tax increases, protection against high electricity prices to take effect on November 1st, cutting the tax in ISK savings accounts, a big cut in gasoline/diesel taxes, permanent border controls, and abolishing the right to a translator in healthcare services. None of these things have been accomplished.

The budget presented this week focused mostly on cuts for the environmental budget and international aid, a small tax cut for elderly people who work past retirement age, about 200 million more to the police and justice system (surprising how small the increase was, given the apocalyptic rhetoric on the campaign trail), a 1 kronor/liter cut on diesel (just 10 cents, which is 90% less than what they promised), and unemployment benefits are kept the same. They continue their vague promise of a energy bill compensation that should start in the new year.

Overall a very unambitious budget. The most controversial item (domestically) at least, is the aid to municipalities and regions will come in well under inflation: a meager 6 billion SEK at a time when public budgets are under strain due to inflation + backlogs that have built up over the past 15 years, and with a recession looming.

Which ties nicely into my next point: those municipal and regional councils have a record number of S+M cooperations, and KD has made it into 13 regional governments with their focus on the healthcare system (which is run by the regions). They surely will not be pleased with the national parties giving them shadow austerity.



S, while losing power nationally, saw a major resurgence of influence in the regions and also took control of all the four largest cities:


Meanwhile, the race to succeed Annie Lööf as leader of C at their party congress on February 23rd is in full swing. All of the three candidates have said they intend to stay the course of C's liberal politics, distance themselves from S+V, but also refuse to work with Kristersson so long as he continues to work with SD.

The candidates are:

• Daniel Bäckström - group leader of C in the parliament, elected to the Riksdag in 2014. Current C spokesperson on agriculture. Known for his deep relations with rural areas and working with municipalities.
• Elisabeth Thand-Ringqvist - current member of parliament elected in 2022, spokesperson on business policy. Former CEO of Företagarna, which is the business confederation and lobby for small business interests
• Muharrem Demirok - elected to the Riksdag in 2022, spokesperson for education policy. Honestly, I don't know much about this guy to say anything. I assume he has little chance.

Bäckström strikes me as a throwback to C's roots as a rural- and farmer-focused party. Thand-Ringqvist strikes me as the closest successor to Annie Lööf and her economic liberalism. Demirok, as written above, seems like a long shot. I am obviously not an expert on Centre and am probably blinded by my preferences for S, but IMO Bäckström looks like the favorite? He has a 8 years of parliamentary experience, has served on many committees (defense, taxation, business affairs, transportation, foreign affairs), and is a strong voice for rural areas and smaller municipalities, which is precisely where C suffered the most in the 2022 election. But I will let our resident C activist comment more on that.


The Liberals continue to be pathetic; this time the Liberal Minister of Equality has said she won't enforce the Tidö Agreement plank where prostitutes should be deported from Sweden. I wonder how much picking and choosing the other parties will tolerate from L.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Wait, before these elections Centre was in government in 19/21 regions? That is absolutely hilarious.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

https://omni.se/a/P40Vx5

https://www.dn.se/sverige/ebba-ostlin-bryter-tystnaden-mest-udda-motet-i-mitt-liv/

Big (and amusing) local scandal for SAP in Stockholm. A local party leader was ousted by her advisaries by recruiting 98 new members.

There is also suspicions of there being connections to a local gang and they wanted to oust the party boss because she fought against gangs in the area.

The party has now centrally taken the decision to throw all 98 members out.