Swedish Election Results Posted by Marcus Cederström on Sep 20, 2010 in Uncategorized
I don’t pretend to be a political scientist. There are so many things about politics I can’t begin to understand. Both Swedish and American. It doesn’t stop me from being interested in the political workings of both countries, or from having an opinion though. It’s why I stayed up until five in the morning watching the American election results while living in Sweden. It’s also why I found myself watching the Swedish election results online on a Sunday afternoon while in the US.
So what happened? A lot. Socialdemokraterna (the Social Democrats) continued to lose ground and will go into the new term with 17 fewer seats than 2006. Moderaterna (the Moderates) continued to gain ground and will enter with 10 more seats. Alliansen (the Alliance), the coalition led by Moderaterna will not however enter with a clear majority. And most notably, and, in my opinion, unfortunately, Sverigedemokraterna (the Sweden Democrats) gained enough votes to enter parliament with 20 seats. Sverigedemokraterna are, of course, the far rightwing party with a decidedly anti-immigration platform.
That Alliansen was not able to grab a majority of the votes leaves a lot of questions to be answered. Moderaterna have said they will speak with Miljöpartiet (the Green Party) and not negotiate with Sverigedemokraterna. The result of those discussions will be eagerly awaited in Sweden.
But in general, Sverigedemokraterna will be making headlines in the coming days. Sweden suddenly finds itself with an extreme rightwing party in parliament. A party that made huge gains from the previous election. A party that continues to gain support. A party that as of right now has no one willing to work with them in parliament.
These sorts of parties have been seen before in times of uncertainty whether that be economic uncertainty or social uncertainty. Most political analysts were willing to concede that Sverigedemokraterna would be voted into parliament. Despite this, 20 seats surprised me. And not the good kind. The extreme rightwing made the second biggest gain from 2006 to 2010 pulling in 5.7% of votes, up from 2.9% in the last election.
It speaks to an underlying worry in the country. To concerns about social issues. Socioeconomic issues. National identity. Whatever the reasons, Sweden must face the issues head on. As of these elections, they have no choice.
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About the Author: Marcus Cederström
Marcus Cederström has been writing for the Transparent Swedish Blog since 2009. He has a Bachelor's Degree in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Oregon, a Master's Degree in Scandinavian Studies from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and a PhD in Scandinavian Studies and Folklore from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He has taught Swedish for several years and still spells things wrong. So, if you see something, say something.
Comments:
Seigfried De Wolfe:
It is too bad that the right wing parties have managed to gain power. Such right-wingers only think about taxes and not the common people. Sweden was better off with having a more left-wing party in control. May that day come again.
Carol:
This makes me very sad. I’ve been holding out hope that if things got too ugly with the elections in the US this fall (with the fire-snorting Republicans taking a majority in the House or Senate) that my husband and I could move back to his home in Sweden until my fellow countrymen here come to their senses. The thought that the extreme right wing saddens me deeply (and yes, I know it’s not as ugly as it is here, but still…)
I know from friends still in Sweden or with relatives there, as well as my friends from Finland and Norway, that the immigration issue (specifically Muslim immigration) is becoming a very ugly issue and that this is driving a lot of the push to the right. I just hoped (and still do) that Scandinavians can behave more like adults than we do in the US.
James:
There are some interesting parallels with the recent Australian election.
As I noted from the debate last week, the issues remained the same, with education, health, climate change and immigration dominating the debate, though I noticed a fair degree of bipartisanship in Sweden on some of the issues, such as refugees.
Like the Swedes, Australia now has a Red-Green Alliance to match the Conservative Alliance.
LIke Australia, Sweden now has a far-right race-based party. Ours was One Nation which has now all but disappeared.
I think it’s fascinating the Moderates are willing to talk to The Greens to assure a government majority. In Australia, the Labor party spoke to so-called “Conservative Indepndents” to assure majority.
Marco Borg:
I’m not Swedish and have only been to Sweden twice last year. I was taken to a district in Malmo which looked overwhelmingly Middle Eastern and although it looked fairly newish had all the makings of a slum. And the few Swedish-looking people I saw, had the huddled look, which I see in many countries in Europe, literally taken over by Muslim immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. The huddled, wary look which says “We want to leave this place but can’t”
I was told that the leader of the largest party in Sweden had said that employers should prefer someone whose name was Muhammed and praised a gathering of Turks in the centre of Stockholm brandishing a multitude of Turkish flags saying she envied them their identity, ethnicity etc unlike the Swedes who only had silly mid-summer games.
My impression of Sweden was that the Swedes after a century of the state looking after them were too naive, too weakened to do anything and would simply perish without a whimper like the Swedish tourists in Thailand after the tsunami.
I am surprised and glad that there is life in the Swedes yet. The voting for the Sweden Democrats is a very positive thing. But they have a long way to go. The Swedish Radio still mentions multi-culturalism. Here in the UK even well-paid people in the race relations industry wouldn’t dare use those words
Marco Borg:
James wrote
“I think it’s fascinating the Moderates are willing to talk to The Greens to assure a government majority. In Australia, the Labor party spoke to so-called “Conservative Indepndents” to assure majority.”
Australia is of course lucky in that it can keep ticking over by merely handing over its mineral wealth to China. But even there people would understand why “conservative independents” would join a coalition which had suffered a massive decline in popularity. It’s called greed and it’s not very popular in the West at the moment.
Scrabbing to form some sort of coalition against the flow of public opinion fundamentals is never a good thing. It is happening now in Europe in Austria, Holland, Belgium etc.
In Europe the key issues are jobs and immigration. Basically, Europeans do not want European jobs and skills transferred to China and they do not want immigration, especially Islamic immigration from outside Europe. It is very simple really.
Nora Carlsson:
I am a Canadian who as lived and worked in Sweden for the past thirty years. I voted at the poles yesterday, choosing the Moderates as I always do, mainly the because party has sound economic policies which I am in agreement with. I’mI proud of the way Sweden has taken itself through the recent economic crisis.
I am not at all suprised that the SD party did so well as they did at the polls yesterday. During my years in Sweden I have heard so much talk around coffee tables and in lunch rooms about the large numbers of immigrants, many of whom are illiterate, who seek and find asylum in Sweden. Some families have up to 10-12 children plus their extended families that will arrive at a later date. Before most of these people could ever find a job, they first have to learn Swedish and then find some kind of trade. After that, the job search isn’t easy, as it is a known fact that employers hire Swedes first. So what happens? These people continue living in Sweden, thanks to the generosity of working Swedes (colleagues around the coffee table) and the Swedish welfare system. My colleagues sit at their desks and watch these unemployed people pass by on their daily shopping trips downtown.
What I am trying to say is that some people have decided to take action (vote for SD) instead of just murmering around the coffee table. These people are not rasists or extreme right-wing. They are only people who would like a more selective immigration policy which could be more flexible based on what the present unemployment figures are and basically how the economic situatation is in the country. Swedes are tired of paying amongst the highest income taxes and V.A.T. in the world to support others.
Vea:
Today is not a good day for Sweden. Last night I was really mad and really sad. But it is now the big fight begin, and a lot of us is not going to give up. SD is not what a lot of us stand for and we want to show it to the rest of the world. The approximately 330000 who voted for SD is nothing really, and we can’t let them get what they want.
I know that right now I can just wait to see the full result but I am still going to fight for multitude, an open mind, democracy and freedom. And I know that a lot of other people feel the same way. Maybe people just need someone to wake them up from the slumber, that is what I hope for!
CK:
I don’t follow Swedish politics, but I have a few Swedish friends who have been doing nothing but flipping shit all weekend and today. This explains it! Tack!
reveal1912:
Sweden rigged election.
Denying an opposition party the oxygen of media exposure or even engaging in honest and fair debate is something we expect from African despots such as Robert Mugabe and not a modern European country such as Sweden.
It is obvious that the multicultural experiment has been a complete catastrophe, Sweden has ended up balkanized as a result, its truly tragic.
Nevertheless the left continues defending its social engineering handy work.
We can’t have people asking to many awkward
questions can we…must suppress debate.
J. Eric:
@Nora
I am an American living in the state of Washington. We have the same issues here in our western states with immigrants that you have described there in Sweden. The nationality of the immigrants (many of them illegal) is different, but the same attitude of entitlement is prevalent in many, but not all.
Rent is subsidized, food stamps, free medical benefits while legal citizens pay full price.
I believe our politicians (both parties) use the immigrants as political pawns to the country’s harm.
James:
Marco Wrote: My impression of Sweden was that the Swedes after a century of the state looking after them were too naive, too weakened to do anything and would simply perish without a whimper like the Swedish tourists in Thailand after the tsunami.
What an awful thing to say about people who died in a tragic incident.
gabriel:
Looks like all the votes are not counted yet. The governing alliance still might get a majority, according to media reports…only time will tell.
Marko:
The immigration policy in Sweden is way too relaxed. It is a privilege to live in Sweden, not a right by immigrants to take tax dollars of hard working Swedes and leach off the system.
Of course every country needs immigration, but there is a way to do it properly, not a complete open-door policy.