No Swedish Re-election in March 2015

12/27/2014 defence , election , energy , governance , pensions , politics , Sweden 0 Comments

Since the parliamentary election, 14th of September this year, Swedish politics has been in constant turmoil. The prime minister declared re-elections only one month ago. A decision that has been widely critcized by both the left and the right. Today, six parties (S, Mp, M, Fp, C, Kd) held a press conference to present a deal struck over block party lines to negotiate on three main topics, namely pensions, energy, and swedish defence politics. Prime minister, Stefan Löfven, also said that there won't be a re-election in March 2015 due to this new deal which makes it possible for a minority coalition to rule in parliament. 

It  looks like Swedish politics have entered a new era of six party politics. This has come about since the xenophobic Sweden Democrats (Sd) became the third largest party in Swedish politics, which created three blocs instead of two, making it difficult to rule in a minority position. This new deal, that covers a period of 7 years, makes it possible for a minority coalition to rule in parliament and get their budget passed. It also makes it impossible to break out parts of a budget, like the left did during last election term when the Alliance ruled in parliament. For voters this means that it matters less which party you voted for, but rather for which bloc you voted for. This deal has excluded the left party (V) and the Sweden Democrats (Sd). It is difficult to know what Swedes think about all this, but it has become increasinly clear that political contempt has risen during this fall/winter. Sd has called for a declaration of no confidence of prime minister Stefan Löfven but for that to pass they would need a majority in parliament, which is unlikely now that this deal has been struck.