Category: Politics

And so it’s election day.

All the parties have been campaigning up to the last minute, trying to sway the thousands of voters who still haven’t made up their minds. By the lake today, one party, the currently-reigning Moderates, were offering coffee and cinnamon buns to passers-by in exchange for a little chat about the election.

The tv has been full of election issues. The papers have been packed with it. The streets have been full of campaign workers and, for the first time, the parties have been knocking on doors. Apparently, never before has so much focus been placed on the election and on increasing election turnout.

This interested me. So I checked the IFES Election Guide to see how parliamentary election turnout compares between different countries.

And, to be honest, Sweden does really well already.

In the last election, the election turnout in Sweden was 81.99%

Compare that figure to the UK (65.52%), Switzerland (49%), Czech Republic (39.12%) and Hungary (30.94%).

The best countries are Belgium (91.80%), Malta (93.30%) and, wait for it, Luxembourg (100%!!!)

Of all the 70 countries in the list, only 11 have a higher election turnout than Sweden, many of them only very slightly. That’s not a bad statistic, which reflects that Swedes, in general, take their democratic rights seriously.

In Sweden, voting is not only a right. It is a duty.

At first glance, Swedish politics can be a bit confusing. Unlike the UK, or the USA, there are 7 major parties all vying for the voters. You’d think with 7 parties, it’d be easy to decide who to vote for. But it isn’t. Apart from the far left and the far right, all the other parties seem very similar.

This time round, however, the parties have tried to make it easier for us by forming two blocs: the Alliance to the right, and the Red-Greens to the left. Two concrete blocs to choose from when we are standing in the polling station on September 19th.

Or at least that’s the theory. The trouble is that both blocs are making the same election promises. More money to pensioners. Better schools. Better healthcare. More jobs.

The forming of the two blocs has made the decision even more difficult, and in the end it may become simply a choice between the far left or the far right.

To get clarity, I decided to ask some Swedes what the main ideological difference is between the two blocs. And surprisingly, they couldn’t really tell me. Lots of people couldn’t tell any difference at all. Some people made a brave attempt to explain. I heard things such as,

‘one side wants to reduce tax by 1%, the other wants to increase tax by 1%
‘one side believes in benefits, the other in jobs’
‘one side wants to put more money than the other into the public sector’

None the clearer, I will have to chew over my options. Before election day, I’ll decide. Like millions of other voters. And a new government will be chosen.

And we’ll probably notice very little difference.

In a few weeks, Sweden will be voting for a new government.

One Swedish phenomenon around election time is the ‘valstuga’. The ‘valstuga’ is a little rustic hut placed on squares, in parks, on road junctions, outside shopping centres and erected by one of the many political parties. In these little colourful huts you can find little representatives of the respective party that built the hut. Like in a fairy tale, you can go into the hut and talk to them and ask them questions about why they should get just your vote.

This brings the politicians closer to the people. It also brings the countryside, never very far away in the Swedish pyche, into the cities.

Another phenomena is the ‘valaffisch’, or election poster. As in many other countries, each party has campaign posters on which they promote their main message or their main personalities. In Sweden, these posters pop up overnight. Pasted on fences, walls, lamp posts, doors, walls, they paste the towns with election propaganda. Many posters don’t stay where they have been attached. The wind, or ill-willed opponents, often tear the posters down and throw them into the streets. This year, the environmental message is dominant. A greener Sweden. A more ‘climate smart’ industry. Reduce emissions. ‘We are your green voice’.

All I can think about it is the massive environmental impact of all this printed trash all over the city. Seems like a mixed message to me.

Who do you call to report the political parties for littering?

Interesting article about Sweden in March’s issue of Monocle magazine by Elna Nykänen Andersson.

She talks about a report released in January this year by the Social Insurance Inspectorate which looked at the number of sick days taken by Swedes.

In 2005, 14% of the working age population were on sick and incapacity benefits. This was more than any of the 30 major countries in the OECD. Interestingly, over 50%of the Swedes who were on benefits were away for more than 6 months, compared to the other OECD ccountries where this figure was between 10-20%.

However, according to the report released in January, this has changed. The number of people on sick and incapacity benefits has dropped dramatically, as has the number of people on long-term benefits.

So, is this a miracle of health care? Has it do with an upsurge in national fitness levels? Has there been an increase in medication? No.

In 2008, the Swedish government introduced check-ups every three months for those on sick leave. And amazingly, many people have discovered that they are well enough to work after all.

According to the report, the Swedish state has saved 650 million crowns in benefit payments.

So that’s where the money came from to reimburse commuters for the delays in the public transportation system.