The Big Bad Swedish Politics & News Thread

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Löfvén is most certainly better than the last two S leaders, but considering those were a cumpulsive liar and Mrs Scandal without any leadership skills it's hardly a competion.

I think the red-greens will outnumber the Alliance this time around, mostly because all energy and all new ideas seem to have disappeared from the Alliance. And S has learnt a bit from the failed 2010 campaign. Still I don't think they'll get their own majority, it'll be another hung parliament, and any left-wing government will have a hard time staying in power.


Btw, as we're on the topic of Swedish politics... there are rumours that Reinfeldt wants to succed Barosso as President of the EU commission in 2014, and thus will step down this year to leave way to a new M-leader and PM.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Meh, Reinfeldt is not to bad for a European rightist so I wouldn't really mind him as EC President. He can't be worse than Barroso.

Are you sure? Reinfeldt would be very pro-austerity, and would probably back the Merkel economic plan 100%.

I wouldn't mind of course. I'd love to see him in that position. Not to mention it'd shake up Swedish politics.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

I like how you don't even seem to consider the idea that EPP might loose the election. Who would even be a PES candidate?

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

I agree with you that Borg does not want to be party leader and PM. He's an economist, not a politician. Still I think there are a few alternatives that would be a possibilty to succed Reinfeldt if he stepped down. I actually think Hillevi Engström could turn out to be a good leader for the Moderates.

I mean why not counter Löfvén with another Union leader. And it would be nice depriving the left from getting the first female PM. I wonder if the left-wingers who said we should support the red-greens last time because it was about time we had a female PM would say the same for Engström.

But you're quite right that Reinfeldt would have to announce his retierment quite soon if he were to step down before the next election.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Also, even as a left winger I can say that the people who said you should vote red-green because we'd get a female PM are morons. Competence should always come first, and that's why I'd never support an Engström government in any way.

Well I believe most people (left- or right-wing) found that argument stupid, and some people bringing it up probably just did more harm than any good. And naturally you wouldn't support an Engström government, the day SSU members start backing Moderate lead goverments, I will start to be worried where this country is going.

(Also there's no accent on the e in Löfven, even if it sounds like there should be)

Well actually according to folkbokföringen:

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[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

I'd also like to add that I see Engström as a realistic successor to Reinfeldt. Obviously if I could have anyone I wanted it'd be Maria Abrahamsson. ^^ But let's face it, she's too awsome for it to actually be anything more than MP. 

And she's a good person to rally the right-wing troopes, but not convince and win the swing-voters.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Eurozone leaders (France and Germany) will want one leader from them to be next leader of European Union to not show weakness. That takes Reinfeldt out equation.

Please don't post statements about stuff you clearly have no understanding off.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

YES, make that happen! Not because I like her or think her politics are remotely good for the country, but because with her at the helm SAP reaching 40% in 2014 doesn't seem so far fetched anymore.

Be careful what you wish for, I'm sure Labour would have said similar things about Thatcher before she became Prime Minister.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Personally, I think Anna Kinberg Batra could be someone to watch out for.

Her gaffe "People from Stockholm are smarter than people from the country side" will hunt her forever though.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Sigh I remember a time when Maud Olofsson had the highest approvals of the party leaders. How things have changed since '06.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Why are Löfven's approvals so mediocre? Based on what you guys said, I'd have expected him to be on par with Reinfeldt.

Reinfeldt has had nine years as party leader to build his huge capital of trust among voters, and by now he is an experienced statesman that people (even those who disagree with him on policy) think is a very competent leader.

Löfvén on the other hand is an untried card. People find him sympathetic, and no one disputes that he's the most competent S leader since Persson (but that wasn't a hard competition) but bisides that there's really not much to him. He has no political brand out-side of his union leadership, and most people had no idea who he was before he became leader, and since then he's done his best to be as anonymus and low-profile as possible. Considering that, it is remarkable how strong his approvals are.  

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Wait, what are "companies in the welfare sector"? You mean insurance companies?

Private hospitals, and schools, and so on.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The debate going on is basicly wether privte hospitals, schools, and nursing homes should be allowed to make a profit on their business if it's a business that is fully or partially state funded and is suppouse to provide welfere to someone.

The left's argument being that it's immoral to make a profit on something that is tax-payer funded (so funded by national health insurence, or school voachers) as well as that allowing profits will naturally lead to companies cutting the quality of care and education in order to make large profit.

While the right argue that it would be wrong to be able to make money by making bombs (the military weapon industry in Sweden is huge) while if you do something good like provide health care or education you're not allowed to make money on it, and that the problem with busnisses cutting the quality of care or education is solved by the free market. If your school or hospital doesn't live up to your expectations you switch to another alternative.

The counter argument to that being that switching your hospital/school/nursing home isn't like switching to another brand of bread in the super market, and that (especially when it comes to schools and nursing homes) it's a question of people being too young and too old to be able to make good choices for themselves.     

The question has been splitting the Social Democrats in their traditional right- and left- fractions for quite a while.

LO, (Swedish Trade Union Confederation) who're usually completly worthless, actually come up with a good compromise proposal, which even though I don't agree with it, I think would be a winning position in an election. But if Marbury is correct (and I count on him knowing his party better than I do) that will probably not be adapted.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Also unlike what some rightwingers say about us who oppose profits in welfare we aren't against private alternatives in welfare at, we just believe that their profits should be reinvested in the actual business because it is the best for the patients. Basically what we say is that if your ultimate goal is to just make money and nothing else, then you shouldn't be in the welfare business in the first place.

Yes, but there are people on the left, mostly in V but also in your party, who're still entierly against private initiatives altogether. Obviously we shouldn't say you're all the same, but we need to face and debate both positions. 

As for the people who hold your position, that still leaves the question: Why shouldn't people be allowed to make money for being involved in helping people as opposed to producing a physical product. Should being the founder and CEO of a group of succesful  hospitals be valued less than being the founder and CEO of a company in the weapons industry?

Obviously profits shouldn't be allowed to decrease  the quality of the welfere that customers recive, or the conditions of the employes, but that you solve with tighter regulations and harder inspections, not by out-lawing profit. There have been rotten eggs on the market, but should you punish the good companies for John Bauer or Carema being sh**t, or should you make sure they live up to a good standard by regulation, and leave the good alternatives alone. That is where our oppinion differ.

As for the problem with tax-evasion, and tax-planing, that is a different issue that must be tackled seperatley. We need to make sure everyone (undependant of wether they're Bofors or Carema) pay their taxes in Sweden, but that is solved by closing loop-holes and tax treaties, not banning profit for a small number of certain enterprise. 

Some type compromise, quite possibly more far reaching than the one already proposed, is indeed likely to pass.

Well it shall be intresting to follow the debate and see what they come up with.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

My solution would be, stop funding these companies and give this money to the public hospitals and schools instead. If you want to be a for-profit company, there's no reason the State should subsidize you.

Ah but then you get the problem that only the wealthy can buy private alternatives. I can assure you that it's not a solution that'd be accepted by anyone on the swedish left.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The unfortunate marketisation of vital public services hasn't contributed much at all to our growth, except for the obvious growth of profit-seeking interests in the welfare sector, I guess.

Well naturally you would say that, you're a left-winger.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The Social Democrats have the last couple of days once more been engaged in scandal. This time over one of their newly elected board members who has been accused of anti-semitism and homophobia since he as chairman for the Swedish Islamic Association invited openly anti-semetic and anti-LGBT speakers. Wether he, Omar Mustafa holds these views privatly is unclear. The chritisism has come mostly from inside the party and not from the opposition. 

http://www.thelocal.se/47270/20130411/#.UWp7scq6558

Omar Mustafa has now been forced to resign while giving a minor kicking towards the party leadership while doing so, saying:

“The party leadership believes that having a mandate within the party and within Muslim civil society is incompatible. The party leadership’s view isn’t only regrettable, it’s also a frightening signal to Muslims and other Social Democrats who are people of faith,”

http://www.thelocal.se/47320/20130413/#.UWp928q6558

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Its fair enough if you think Sweden has enough news for its own thread, but maybe you should rename it to Sweden General Discussion then?

We could PM Afleitch and ask him to rename them. I don't mind either way.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

There, done and done. Sweden is now free and indipendant.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

I am curious as to where the Sverigedeomkratene gets their votes from. Is it working class voters that used to vote for Socialdemokratarna? 

SD generally takes voters from all parties across the board, however the party which we're seeing the most movement to the Sweden Democrats is not the Social Democrats, but actually the Moderates. This could be seen as result of Reinfeldt's "New Moderates" and their decision to focus less on issues like defense, immigration and crime than previously, meaning that some of the old guard Moderates jump to SD because they don't feel that M is right wing enough. But M has largely been able to compensate for this by catering to the centrists who used to vote for SAP.

More UKIP than BNP or the FN?

None of them are really comparable to SD.

It's worth noting that though it's true that SD has gained more from M than SAP, the difference (in 2010) was very small, and most SD voters are people who usually didn't turn out to vote.   

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

SOM-institutet poll on European Union:

SOM-institutet has done a poll on the EU. No articals will give full numbers, but what they say are:

Only 42% now support Swedish participation in the EU. (Down from 53% in 2010)
Only 11% want to give up more political power and soverinity to Europe
Only 9% think we should switch currency to the Euro.*

*Lowest support for the Euro since they began to poll the question. In the '03 referendum support was at 42%.  

Party leaders debate on national TV

The leaders of the eight parliamentry parties met in a prime-time TV debate yesterday. I haven't had time to watch it yet, but apperently unemployment was the hot topic.

Most reviews seem to claim Löfvén and Lööf were the big winners. Not that I think it'll influence polling so far out of the election.  

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

The leaders of the eight parliamentry parties met in a prime-time TV debate yesterday. I haven't had time to watch it yet, but apperently unemployment was the hot topic.

Most reviews seem to claim Löfvén and Lööf were the big winners. Not that I think it'll influence polling so far out of the election.   

I thought Annie Lööf was a walking disaster?

Taking heat all the time has actually improved her debating.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Currently at the Centre Party Youth congress. If you want any inside information about what's going on inside the most radical part of my wannabe radical party, ask away.

I might not be able to reply until Sunday though. 

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

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That isn't really fair. The only really libertarian proposal we passed during this congress was legalisation of weed. (And 42% even voted against that)

We voted down abolishing the monarchy, voted down fairtax, voted down privatizing water, no to a 0% corporate tax and so on. So the Libretarian faction really only had a single victory, and that's on something that most young liberals and socialists agree on as well. 

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

Eh, I guess it was an overstatement, but there is a libertarian faction in CUF that is very vocal compared to any past libertarian movements.

I know that. I spent the last weekend debating and hanging out with them. But having a vocal libertairian faction isn't the same as the whole CUF going libertarian and not looking back.

Intresting fact btw, people think it's the Stureplan CUF that is most liberal/libertairian, but they have nothing on the Gothenburg/Kungsbacka CUF.

Christian Democrats: 3.8% (-4.3%)

Typo?

- Centre Party gains BIG among voters aged 18-35 and with women - 1.6% to 5.0% among women and 2.9% to 7.0% among the 18-35 crowd! Most of their gains are in rural areas. Some sort of Annie Lööf effect gaining sympathy? I have no idea.

Nice
Guess who's back, back again! 

- Green Party down the most with men and voters 35-64. Gains among young, old and urban, loses among the 35-64 group and in rural areas.

There were Green voters in rural areas to begin with?