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[hydrophilic attack]

Update: The snap election has been called off. The Social Democrat and Green government reached an agreement with the Centre-right Alliance that means that either side would let the other side's budget through parliament, if they have more votes, to deprive the Sweden Democrats influence. And after this, the election was called off.

The centre-right budget has already gone through parliament though, and will stay in effect through at least half of 2015. The two sides also agreed to negotiations for future cooperations regarding defence, energy and pensions. Note that they said nothing about education policy, which likely means that the right-wing coalition will keep pushing their policies there.

Swedish PM calls first snap vote in 50 years after far-right force budget defeat

Sweden’s far right plunged the country into unprecedented political upheaval on Wednesday by forcing the government to gamble on fresh elections in the spring after the centre-left coalition failed to push through its budget.

The anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats, the country’s third largest party with 13% of the vote, portrayed the new elections in March as “a de facto referendum” on immigration, currently at near-record highs as refugees flee conflict in Syria, Iraq and Somalia.

The far right forced the crisis to a head when they broke with established tradition and voted with the centre-right opposition instead of abstaining after their own budget proposal had fallen, ensuring the government’s defeat on this key legislation. In bitter remarks aimed at the centre-right, who had refused to compromise, prime minister Stefan Löfven admitted the Sweden Democrats now had a veto over Swedish politics, leaving him no choice but to call elections just six months after the country went to the polls in September.

“The [centre-right] parties did not take responsibility for their promise not to give the Sweden Democrats decisive influence in Swedish politics – this is an irresponsible action of these parties and is unprecedented in our political history,” Löfven told journalists on Wednesday evening.

Green party leader Gustav Fridolin said: “We cannot let the Sweden Democrats dictate the terms of politics.”

But former foreign minister Carl Bildt tweeted that Löfven had made a “critical mistake” by abandoning previous agreements with Alliance parties and had “burned bridges”. Center party leader Annie Lööf, a key figure on the centre-right, tweeted: “Stefan Löfven has thrown the red glove. We will not hesitate to pick it up. Looking forward to meet the voters 22/3 for a better Sweden!”

Before Wednesday’s budget vote there had been speculation that Löfven would attempt to defuse the crisis by ejecting the Greens from his government, thereby removing an obstacle to cross-bloc negotiation with centre-right parties. But instead he declared that he “liked the cooperation we have” with the Greens.

“I have felt calm in the last few days, it is a difficult situation but I know what we need to do,” he said.

The largest party in the centre-right bloc, the Moderates, is currently leaderless after it lost the September election and its then leader, outgoing prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, quit politics [...]

Anna Kinberg Batra, the party’s spokeswoman in parliament and widely tipped to be elected to the top job in her party, defended the bloc’s firm position in the budget debate as “the only option that makes Sweden stronger”.

Adding to the uncertainty, the Sweden Democrats’ charismatic leader Jimmie Åkesson is also currently out of the picture having been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.

The ruling red green coalition that has slipped badly in opinion polls, but the Alliance also risks being seen by voters to be relying on the far right to try to undermine the government. The Sweden Democrats are treated as pariahs by the mainstream parties and the media, but they more than doubled their vote in September on the back of rising hostility to immigration

Pictured: Prime minister Stefan Löfven

So I guess there will be a new election in March. I feel conflicted about it. Unfortunately, I think the only party to make large gains in the election will be the Sweden Democrats. But on the other hand, I don't think Löfven had any other options, after the centre-right opposition categorically refused to enter any negotiations for a budget compromise.

But I do know that I feel very sad that it got to this point. The differences between the two budgets were quite small (I would personally have preferred if the difference had been bigger, with Löfven's budget being more to the left) so finding a compromise should not have been all that hard, especially in a country like Sweden where we pride ourselves on our ability to reach consensus through level-headed discussion, rather than engaging in partisan squabble.

 

[dino1980]

So happy right now

I hope the result will be that Miljöpartiet has no more influence like they have had the last couple of months.

 

[obin_gam]

^ Yeah, lets all celebrate that brownshirts fucked up our democratic system just to get noticed even more.

At the same time though, I dont understand why Löfven wont talk with the Left Party, they would be a huge ally and help if they just could get along. So this is equally the socialists fault.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

At the same time though, I dont understand why Löfven wont talk with the Left Party, they would be a huge ally and help if they just could get along.

He needs support from the right-wing alliance, which he won't get if he cooperates too much with the Left Party. It's a bit of a shame (I voted for the Left Party) but it’s the pragmatic thing to do.

 

[Yobalt]

^ Yeah, lets all celebrate that brownshirts fucked up our democratic principles just to get noticed even more.

At the same time though, I dont understand why Löfven wont talk with the Left Party, they would be a huge ally and help if they just could get along.

Lol Brown Shirts.

Why would SD give two shits about praxis? Explain how it would benefit them to simply follow the rules even though everyone ALREADY refuses to work with them. Why should they support a system that does nothing but work against them?

 

[obin_gam]

Lol Brown Shirts.

Why would SD give two shits about praxis? Explain how it would benefit them to simply follow the rules even though everyone ALREADY refuses to work with them. Why should they support a system that does nothing but work against them?

Because they argue (and whine) that everyone else SHOULD follow the "rules". That's how they got one of their own as 2nd vice speaker in the parliament.

 

[Enkidu]

At the same time though, I dont understand why Löfven wont talk with the Left Party, they would be a huge ally and help if they just could get along. So this is equally the socialists fault.

It won't do him any good. Even with the Left Party he still doesn't have a majority, and excluding the Left Party makes it far more likely that a solution with the an Alliance party can be worked out.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Lol Brown Shirts.

Why would SD give two shits about praxis? Explain how it would benefit them to simply follow the rules even though everyone ALREADY refuses to work with them. Why should they support a system that does nothing but work against them?

They had power before this. They held the balance of power and as long as the government and the alliance were disagreeing, they would have been the deciding vote. If this causes the government and alliance to seek consensus on more issues, this parliamentary tantrum could actually ultimately give the Sweden Democrats less power.

 

[waypoetic]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

 

[MacNille]

I will be so happy when MP have no influence over the government. These last few months has been bonkers.

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Yep, this is a good move, we might get rid of the social democrats in the re-election.

#alliance4lyfe

 

[hydrophilic attack]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

New threads for new news.

Plus, that thread has very little visibility outside of the regulars. Also, I remember there being quite a lot of international interest here on GAF for the Swedish general election thread.

But if there is no interest I expect this thread to die pretty quickly, so if the thread was a mis-step, it will sort itself out.

 

[freeofgreed]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

I am not Swedish and I care! My favorite threads are usually about the culture of foreign countries, politics included.

 

[Majine]

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not since I'm not that into the politics of my country, but I know that party having that much influence is worrying.

 

[waypoetic]

I am not Swedish and I care! My favorite threads are usually about the culture of foreign countries, politics included.

Okej då. Enjoy the chaos!

 

[hydrophilic attack]

Yep, this is a good move, we might get rid of the social democrats in the re-election.

#alliance4lyfe

I think everyone wants to avoid re-election. Especially the alliance, as their biggest party doesn’t even have a leader. This increases the pressure on everyone to find a bi-partisan solution.

 

[michaelius]

How did it happen that goverment doesn't have majority in parlament ?

 

[obin_gam]

How did it happen that goverment doesn't have majority in parlament ?

The bright red one being the Social Democrats (the "winners"). Notice how they are not more than 50%.

 

[MacNille]

The bright red one being the Social Democrats (the "winners"). Notice how they are not more than 50%.

Don't forget that V is not in the government.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

How did it happen that goverment doesn't have majority in parlament ?

It's actually a common situation in Swedish politics. The only time we have had a majority government in the last 30+ years was in the period in between the general elections in 2006 and 2010.

The reason we so often get minority governments is because of the extremely proportional vote counting system which gives us many small parties in the parliament, compared to countries with first-past-the-post systems like the UK and the USA. Currently, we have eight parties in parliament, and in the election this year, we almost got a ninth party in there (feminist party).

 

[Beefeater]

I don't usually pay attention to politics (I don't even vote), but this is pretty entertaining.

SD has voiced some controversial views (like their intolerance toward Islam), and I'm sure lots of their supporters are racists and bigots, but they bring light to an issue that nobody else dares speak about. What I've heard about their program makes a lot of sense, especially in regards to immigration.

When I look at the other parties all I see is a big charade. Their refusal to talk about our unrestrained immigration or even acknowledge SD in the debates is what's lead to this situation. They have their heads in the sand.

That said, I think the best outcome might be for SD:s speaker to make a statement where he admits problems within the party, clarifies their mission and then yields to the budget. They'll have proved that they can't be ignored, and maybe it can open up communication between them and the other parties. The ball's in Jimmie's court, basically.

 

[trenchfoot]

I don't usually pay attention to politics (I don't even vote), but this is pretty entertaining.

SD has voiced some controversial views (like their intolerance toward Islam), and I'm sure lots of their supporters are racists and bigots, but they bring light to an issue that nobody else dares speak about. What I've heard about their program makes a lot of sense, especially in regards to immigration.

When I look at the other parties all I see is a big charade. Their refusal to talk about our unrestrained immigration or even acknowledge SD in the debates is what's lead to this situation. They have their heads in the sand.

I think the biggest reason why Sd is looked upon as a pure racist-party is that in their manifesto they say that every swede, born here or not can loose citizenship over being committed to a religion or a culture that they dislike or di not accept (read all religions except christianity)

If I choose as an ethnic swede to follow a certain religion or to be gay the want the power to revoke my citizenship.

Also in their manifesto it says that every man has a "human essence" that make all people different, like black people's essence is the violent, arabs has it in their dna to rape, that romani people essence make them steal and so on.. They blame ethnic groups for everything.

In their own words they say that swedish people cant get along with any other group of people in the world.

So I'm asking you what of the manifesto sounds good?

 

[Sesuadra]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

not swedish and I think it is quite interesting.

 

[Acorn]

This will be Ukip next year for us.

 

[Arksy]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

I'm interested in world politics, having loosely followed the Swedish election I can tell you that I care.

 

[Paertan]

This is crazy and all that but all I am thinking is "man I don't want to have to vote again"
Still would just vote the same.

 

[OrangeGrayBlue]

Took me about 5 seconds to realize that using US political party distinctions to make sense of this was naive. The centre-right alliance objects to the sweden democrats' demand to cut immigration? This makes no sense to a dumb american like myself.

 

[Skinpop]

Traditionally, Swedish politics hasn't had to deal with shit like this. Still, I'm hopeful that this would lead to bi-partisan cooperation, rather than the right-wing parties co-operating with the racists, which would likely tarnish their reputation a lot. Ironically, that would mean that this stunt by the Sweden Democrats would give them less power than they have now, where they effectively hold the balance of power.

Note that the Sweden Democrats are breaking with established precedent by voting for someone else's budget rather than abstaining from voting after their own budget fails.

I like shit like this so I'm happy if we get to see some high level political action. I'm trying to figure out who is going to come out as winners/losers in this considering future elections.
I imagine that miljöpartiet with their clown politics might lose support, but on the other hand I can see middle ground voters blaming the right for not cooperating and thus passively supporting the crisis(which is ridiculous). Anyway I think this will benefit sweden on the whole, and hopefully it will force parties to confront SD and take the debate on immigration.

 

[CyclopsRock]

Took me about 5 seconds to realize that using US political party distinctions to make sense of this was naive. The centre-right alliance objects to the sweden democrats' demand to cut immigration? This makes no sense to a dumb american like myself.

Immigration is a bizarro issue, because its impacts are typically that there's a general over all economic benefit but that the poorest get hit the hardest in the form of reduced wages and increased competition for low skill jobs. As such, one doesn't have to go back far to see the labour-supporting left wing parties wanting to close the borders - in the same way they're typically not fond of globalisation - and the more free-market, laissez-faire right ring parties welcoming the competition in the same way they like competition in most areas.

The inversion of this is a pretty recent trend and, I think, has a lot more to do with cultural issues than economic ones (where right wing parties tend to be more socially conservative, left wing less so and therefore their views on immigration flip).

 

[Funky Papa]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

I care. The influence of the far right in the European political scene is newsworthy.

This will be Ukip next year for us.

I'm so sorry.

 

[Coriolanus]

Took me about 5 seconds to realize that using US political party distinctions to make sense of this was naive. The centre-right alliance objects to the sweden democrats' demand to cut immigration? This makes no sense to a dumb american like myself.

Nvm.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

This will be Ukip next year for us.

As much as I dislike UKIP, they're not quite this bad. They have the decency to at least officially condemn open racism, even if on a practical basis racist sentiment is relatively high amongst supporters.

 

[Skinpop]

Took me about 5 seconds to realize that using US political party distinctions to make sense of this was naive. The centre-right alliance objects to the sweden democrats' demand to cut immigration? This makes no sense to a dumb american like myself.

the topic is taboo in Sweden, and that's the issue. I'm sure that internally all parties have ideas and discussions about how to handle it best but reality is that every discussion on the subject ends as soon as one side utters the word "racist" and unfortunately that's often how they start.

While SD is a racist party I wouldn't say all its voters are. Many are just fed up with how the issue is (not) dealt with or discontent with other areas of the right and left block politics.

 

[Paganmoon]

As much as I dislike UKIP, they're not quite this bad. They have the decency to at least officially condemn open racism, even if on a practical basis racist sentiment is relatively high amongst supporters.

Sounds exactly like SD tbh.

No. See post #22 in this thread. UKIP and to be fair most UKIP supporters would not support such statements.

SD officially condemn all kinds of racism, they have a zero tolerance stance towards racism (according to themselves). Officially that is. Now I haven't read their manifesto, but I'd be very surprised if all of which trenchfoot wrote in in post #22 is still in there, cause that'd be blatantly racist, and I think even illegal.

 

[Deleted member 231381]

Sounds exactly like SD tbh.

No. See post #22 in this thread. UKIP and to be fair most UKIP supporters would not support such statements.

 

[jorma]

No. See post #22 in this thread. UKIP and to be fair most UKIP supporters would not support such statements.

They sound fairly similar tbh. The SD manifesto doesn't actually say any of that stuff. They've been very particular about removing all the overt racism from their official stuff.

 

[CoolOff]

I liked this tweet:

"Some possible solutions:

FN-protectorate under British rule
Legal guardian-structure
Absorption into Finland
Belgian Blue (Apathetic anarchy)"

 

[Aiustis]

I doubt non-Swedes will care about this particular topic on this forum. Can't we keep it in the Sweden-GAF thread?

I'm interested.

 

[trenchfoot]

They sound fairly similar tbh. The SD manifesto doesn't actually say any of that stuff. They've been very particular about removing all the overt racism from their official stuff.

Go to their webpage Sverigedemokraterna.se
And read about "the nation" "the human"

Why would I lie?

 

[eot]

I wouldn't mind, I'd get to count votes again. Easy money.

 

[Joni]

Belgian Blue (Apathetic anarchy)"

That would be the perfect name for a Swedish coalition.

 

[archnemesis]

Go to their webpage Sverigedemokraterna.se
And read about "the nation" "the human"

Why would I lie?

I can't find that in their manifesto. Can you supply us with a direct quote?

 

[jorma]

Go to their webpage Sverigedemokraterna.se
And read about "the nation" "the human"

Why would I lie?

I can't say why you lie, but you actually made me read their manifesto and theres nothing remotely like it in there.

I guess you're gonna have to provide some actual quotes from their manifesto, because i did a search in the pdf on both "the nation" and "the human" (yes, in Swedish) and got zero hits.

edit: i read the 2014 version
http://sverigedemokraterna.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Valmanifest.pdf

 

[trenchfoot]

I can't say why you lie, but you actually made me read their manifesto and theres nothing remotely like it in there.

I guess you're gonna have to provide some actual quotes from their manifesto, because i did a search in the pdf on both "the nation" and "the human" (yes, in Swedish) and got zero hits.

edit: i read the 2014 version
http://sverigedemokraterna.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Valmanifest.pdf

I am sorry, I read the princioprogram and not the manifest.
See page 8 about the human essence that is inherited from you forefathers.

Page 15 where they state that if you are born in sweden they still want the power to take your citizenship even if your whole family is swedish since centuries.

This is the 2014 "princip program"Cant quote from a pdf on my phone, sorry

https://www.google.se/url?sa=t&sour...hlM9JA_krcVhD7UpA&sig2=lWwtpH6ckh-BCjaULHwf4Q

 

[jorma]

See page 8 about the human essence that is inherited from you forefathers.

Page 15 where they state that if you are born in sweden they still want the power to take your citizenship even if your whole family is swedish since centuries.

This is the 2014 manifesto. Cant quote from a pdf on my phone, sorry

https://www.google.se/url?sa=t&sour...hlM9JA_krcVhD7UpA&sig2=lWwtpH6ckh-BCjaULHwf4Q

sigh
well shit

It essentially says that human beings are both social and biological constructs and that they don't subscribe to the blank slate theory. There's nothing at all here about black people being inherently violent, and nothing about arabs having rape-DNA.

Can't find anything about revoking citizenships. Only thing i found was that they don't want people to have dual citizenships. but that was page 16. Unsure what you mean here.

Meh, why are you making me defend them? Don't make shit up pls, and if you interpret something in a certain way, do mention that.

 

[Acorn]

As much as I dislike UKIP, they're not quite this bad. They have the decency to at least officially condemn open racism, even if on a practical basis racist sentiment is relatively high amongst supporters.

I meant more in holding a govt hostage (Whether it's labour or Tory doesn't matter if polls pan out).

 

[archnemesis]

Can't find anything about revoking citizenships.

He is likely referring to this:

På samma sätt som den som är född in i en annan nation senare i livet kan bli en del av den svenska nationen menar vi också att man även som infödd svensk kan upphöra att vara en del av den svenska nationen genom att byta lojalitet, språk, identitet eller kultur.

Just as a person born in another nation can become a part of the Swedish nation, we also mean that a native Swede may cease to be a part of the Swedish nation by switching loyalty, language, identity or culture.

It's very unspecific and doesn't necessarily involve revoking citizenships.

 

[trenchfoot]

sigh
well shit

It essentially says that human beings are both social and biological constructs and that they don't subscribe to the blank slate theory. There's nothing at all here about black people being inherently violent, and nothing about arabs having rape-DNA.

Can't find anything about revoking citizenships. Only thing i found was that they don't want people to have dual citizenships. but that was page 16. Unsure what you mean here.

Meh, why are you making me defend them? Don't make shit up pls, and if you interpret something in a certain way, do mention that.

I am sorry for not making it clear that it was how i interpreted the words, truly sorry.

All in all the other text says that even if you are a "true" swede they want the power to take your citizenship away if you would would change your culture, language and so on.

My thoughts about this part is that if they get majority some day they will actially start to deport all Muslims, buddhist and other people that dont fit their world.
What are yours about this chapter?

And maybe people don't know this but the founder of sd is former ss-army-member gustav ekstrand.

And SS was the nazipartys own special army, no one was forced into that like the german army, it was by own choice, especially as a swede.

 

[Faddy]

The bright red one being the Social Democrats (the "winners"). Notice how they are not more than 50%.

So if I understand this correctly it is common left to right scale. The red group are more to the left of the political scale and usually vote together. The blue block are the right and they usually vote together. So in the past either group of parties would win a majority. Now there is a third Far Right group who don't want to co-operate with anyone.

If there was to be a new election would there be blame for being unable to run the country and who would get most of it.

 

[archnemesis]

Now there is a third Far Right group who don't want to co-operate with anyone.

They are far-right in that they are nationalistic and xenophobic (although not openly racist). In other aspects, they are in the center on the political scale.

If there was to be a new election would there be blame for being unable to run the country and who would get most of it.

Most people would vote the same in a reelection. The three largest parties will likely have new leaders so that might make a small portion to vote differently.