131 days later: Sweden has a government

On that porch in Bolsena Italy the late September 9 evening at the election day, we went to bed saying: this won’t be done until the morning.

It took 131 days.

Correction, it was actually done in the morning. The left bloc had won the Swedish general election by two seats over the right bloc. That’s pretty basic math. But the right bloc had a different and peculiar way of counting and did not admit themselves defeated. Which resulted in the Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén being voted down a couple of days later.

I will not take up your time with all the in and outs in the process that followed through fall and up until Friday when Stefan Löfven again was voted PM. His Social Democrats is orming a minority government with the Green Party (Miljöpartiet). Exactly the constellation voted down post election. Although now supported by the mid parties the Liberals and the Center Party instead of the Left Party.

And. The right bloc (The Alliance) so confident and aggressively aiming to be the new government (although they didn’t have the seats required) is consequently shattered in pieces.

It’s been a very interesting process. I don’t think any Swede is envious of the Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlin who kindly and patiently took on the job being the captain of the careening ship on this stormy political sea which we can name democracy.

The 131 days have to a certain degree been absurd and maybe even ridiculous. But the parliamentary situation was difficult to start with. And 131 days is as long as it took to come to a solution. It’s a record for Sweden and among the top 4 in Europe since the Second World War. It’s been worrisome but I am even more worried about the tone of the political discussion. Loud, aggressive, implacable, even hateful. Because of that I think the Parliament has become a more unfriendly workplace.

Now, at this time we are facing a new political landscape in Sweden. The Alliance is no more. The Moderates (the Right party) and the Christian Democrats are way over at the Right. The Left Party is pushed aside. And we have a government which is a mid-solution. The Social Democrats have been leaning in that direction for a good while and now they are there. Seemingly willing to sacrifice many of their core matters for market-friendly alternatives.

Is there a win in this? Yes. There is. Through this new unholy alliance the Sweden Democrats are disarmed. At least for now. The Xenophobic party rooted in Nazism will no longer have a say. But shouldn’t the third largest party in Sweden have a say? Not in the mind of the 7 other parties - except maybe the Christian Democrats, they are  a bit vague on this point. 

So, the government being presented tomorrow is to a large degree a result from a (pretty much) unified political willpower not accepting xenophobia in governance. For now, Sweden has avoided becoming one of the European countries where a brown party has put it’s boots down. That’s a huge and extremely important win. I wish us good luck.

And the baton goes to the next runner up

It’s an Indian Summer day here on the 64th latitude. Sun and mild winds from the south. I even have the balcony door open a tiny bit. A day inviting picking mushrooms and taking care of those last left overs from the garden. Withered summer flowers hiding in a corner. Turning the water barrel upside-down before the snow comes. Seasons changing.

To be continued, I wrote last Sunday. Regarding forming a new government in Sweden. It’s been more than a month now since the general election. And today, this minute, the situation is as unclear as it was when I tucked myself in in Bolsena, Italy, on election night.

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/09/in-fear-of-tomorrow.html

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/09/a-moment-of-decency-in-swedish-and.html

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-week-of-win-and-losses.html

For two weeks now the Right bloc leader Ulf Kristersson has tried to form government, assigned by the Parliament Speaker to do so. He failed. That he declared to the Speaker today. It also looks now like the Right bloc is falling apart.

So, what happens now? Well, tomorrow the Speaker will go one more round with the leaders of all eight parties. He will most certainly pass the baton to form government to Stefan Löfven, leader of the Social Democrats. After all, he is the chair of the largest party. He would be the next runner up. But will his chances to succeed be higher?

Probably not, as Prime Minister Stefan Löfven lost the vote of no confidence against him and his cabinet right after the election.

I would say the situation is even more locked today than a week ago. Now the Right block is more or less divided into two. And when it comes to talking to each other between the eight parties, those talks are conditional on restrictions they are all putting up, and the tone of conversation keeps getting more high pitched and harsh by the day.

Experts are shaking their heads. Pundits are nodding. No one can see an end to this in the near future. What happened to the famous Swedish consensus? Gone out the roof with all other loud politics of the world? 

And what happened to truth? The result of the election was 144 seats in the Parliament to the Left bloc and 143 to the Right. Simple and straight forward math. In spite of that the Right announced themselves winners, without a plan to form government. That worked well, right?

Yes, those 144 seats include the Left Party which has not had seats in the present government although backed it. The government has been a minority government. Which is not ideal of course, often the case though.

But tomorrow is another day. Will Stefan Löfven try to win the Centre Party over? The Liberals? To be continued…

PS. I am really looking forward to a different topic than politics in this forum. And there will be. A heads up for the risk (yes, I refuse calling it chance) of abolishing Savings Time. Wait, is that politics as well? 

A week of win and losses

1. The week when the Nobel Prize in Literature wasn’t announced.

2. The week when Brett Kavanaugh was sworn in to the Supreme Court.

3. The week when Jean-Claude Arnault was found guilty and convicted for rape.

4. The week when the right wing (Moderaterna) Ulf Kristersson was assigned by the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament to try to form government.

So how do I put this together? I don’t. Although two of the points are related.

To point 1: my hope from last week regarding this subject turned into disappointment. Yes, the FBI-investigation was held. In which they did not find a place, a time or any witnesses supporting Christine Blasey Ford’s detailed testimony against Brett Kavanaugh, accusing him for sexual assault during their high school years.

Those opposing Kavanaugh claim the FBI-investigation was doomed from the start, limited and constrained. After all, the investigation was commissioned by the White House, although not by the White House choice. FBI is only a client.

Christine Blasey Ford. What will her life be after this? Are the thousands of women (and men) all over the country demonstrating supporting her until the bitter end helping at all? 

Is there even one whistle blower through the history who afterwards didn’t disappear into the shadows of his/her own story? Yet, we have to whistle. I hope Christine Blasey Ford will find comfort, strength and pride in knowing she did the right thing. 

To point 2: the result of the Swedish general election was unfortunately even, 144 seats in the Parliament to the Left bloc, 143 the the right. And 63 to the nationalistic end xenophobic Sweden Democrats. 

By some incomprehensible reason math didn’t count. The Right argued they were larger than the Left. 143-144. On 25 September Prime Minister Stefan Löfven lost the vote of no confidence against him and his cabinet. As a result, a new PM and government will have to be elected. 

On Oktober 2 the Speaker gave Ulf Kristersson, the leader of the Right party (Moderaterna) the assignment to try to form government. Try is a crucial word here. Positions are locked since neither bloc is willing to compromise and the willingness to talk to or be supported by the Sweden Democrats varies and are still unclear. Ulf Kristersson will have to come upp with a government within in two weeks. So, To be continued…

To point 1 and 3: the start of the fall of The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize in Literature, was 18 women accusing a man in close connection to the Academy of sexual assault and rape. The name of this man is Jean-Claude Arnault, married to one of the Academy members.

I have been following the tragic, dramatic, messy and historic events of this story and here is more to reed.

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-nobility-of-nobel-prize.html

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/04/king-for-dayswedish-academy-part-2.html

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-swedish-academy-and-2nd-amendment.html

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-swedish-academy-and-2nd-amendment.html

http://homeisawayawayishome.blogspot.com/2018/06/jean-claude-arnault-prosecuted-swedish.html

Out of all the accusations towards Jean-Claude Arnault - events which had been going on for decades - two held all the way up to court. The long time span has been a negative factor for the victims. As Brett Kavanaugh, he has denied all allegations, but on October 1 Arnault was convicted of rape in one case. For that, he will spend two years in prison. The prosecutor will go further with the second case.

It is in a way symbolic that the verdict towards Aranult fell on the same day as the announcement of the Nobel Prize should have taken place. Should have. Because 2018 is the year when the controversies within the Academy made it impossible to hold on to the tradition. The confidence around the world for the Academy is broken. An historic institution is shattered. The image of Sweden and one of the finest awards in the world is soiled. All for a man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants and his hands off women. And for his pals who didn’t think it was a big thing.

But. Jean-Claude Arnault is now a felon. He will spend two years in prison. And there might be more to come. And every woman he has laid his hands on can stand tall. Because the verdict tells the story.

Swedish governing in historic limbo/Part 3

- The new government is a feministic government.

Those words are Stefan Löfven’s, the new Swedish Prime Minister. Expressed in the Statement of Government Policy. Is the new Swedish government the first official feministic government in the world?

Three weeks after the election Sweden has a new government! The exclamation mark might be an overstatement, because it’s a minority and in reality a very weak government, but it’s a government expressing the same values as I have, and it’s like a heavy rock is lifted from my chest.

The new government is formed by the Social Democrats and the Green Party (Miljöpartiet), 24 cabinet ministers: 12 women and 12 men. The actual change of government took place on October 3 at a Council of State at the Royal Palace. Earlier the same day, Stefan Löfven presented the Statement of Government Policy.

I was lying on my couch, doing only that. Not checking emails, not being on the phone, not working on some text, not scrolling Facebook, mind not wondering around. No, being totally focused and present in the fact that Sweden is presented a new government and a new Statement of Government Policy.

For eight years we have been living under a right wing yoke. In the Swedish political history of social democratic values we have never been governed by right wing rhetoric for such a long period before. I was terrified they had been so successful drumming their message in (eight years is, as you Americans know, a long time, a first time voter becomes a grown up during a double government term) there was no way back and Sweden would be forever a country lost in the cold where only strong people contributing to GDP (BNP) are included as human beings.

So, I was focused. I was present. It was a historic moment hearing the word solidarity from a Prime Minister again. I am a bit embarrassed here, but I had tears on my cheek while listening to the declaration. A giant rock was lifted from my compressed chest. I wasn’t even aware it had been there. You can get used to almost everything. Political abuse, in words and in practice too. Every system can turn into a normality.

The giant rock was gone and I could breath again. That’s why the tears.

Now, I am not naive. And I am not stupid. I know this new government is historically weak and I know every ideology and value has a rhetoric vocabulary. But there are intentions. Very different from the last eight years that was forced on me.

I agree on most things in the Statement of Government Policy of October 3. I know though that it will be extremely difficult for this government to make the declaration a reality. We might very well have a situation similar to the one in the U.S where only a few bills actually are passing. But even if it will be only a few, it’s still better than living in a country where most every bill passing feels like a violation on a nation.

So, is the new Swedish government a feministic government? Well, it’s up to the evidence. 50/50 when it comes to cabinet ministers doesn't prove anything although it looks a lot better then 80/20. And words are just words. But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is led by four women, fronted by Margot Wallström as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. So that’s a start.

I could shortlist the Statement of Government Policy to tell what this new Swedish government wants for change, but instead I will quote one sentence from Prime Minister Stefan Löfven:

- We will work for a global order of capital and labor that secures an international economy that benefits all and subjugate no one. 

Those words, I find beautiful.