pic: freepik.com
Two new ministers were appointed in the Löfven government today: one oldie and one newbie. Ardelan Shekarabi takes over as Minister for Social Security (better known here as socialförsäkringsminister) from his previous post as minister of public administration, and a new name for many of us, Lena Micko, has been given Shekarabi’s old job.
Shekarabi made headlines recently with a facebook post saying that Sweden’s migration policy needed to be sharpened up, by quite a bit (see this post). Many observers wondered if it was a play for the position of party leader in the near future. Maybe it paid off, or, he’s being punished for his attention seeking: The Minister for Social Security is a much (much) more visible post, responsible for, oh, little things like health care, elder care, taking care of disabled people and children, and the general health and welfare of society.
Shekarabi has previously publicly shook his fist at the practices of and advertisements for the gambling industry in Sweden, which fall under the purview of the social security department. Perhaps he was then already preparing for this position. He’s not saying. But his facebook post, his efforts to reign in gambling that garnered a lot of air time, and of course his eye-catching bow ties all lead to visibility. His new position will only increase it.
The other new appointment is Lena Micko who will take over as Minister for Public Administration – a position which is almost as exciting as it sounds. Micko comes lately from the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (Sveriges Kommuner och Landsting, SKL) where she was board member and second vice chair. More importantly, she’s a long term, card carrying social democratic party member.
According to Göran Eriksson at SvD, Micko has long experience of working at the municipal level, and knows how they work and what they want. She is supposed to be of the practical sort, and of the more right-leaning bent – similar to the Liberal and Center parties that were actually once part of the right-leaning alliance but who now are supporting cast members in the Löfven government. Micko and the Center and Liberal parties might get along like a house on fire. There’s going to be an even more unhappy left flank if so, but though they’ve expressed some dismay over a few things, they haven’t caused any real trouble for the rest of the social democratic party.
Micko is sure to fight for more money to the municipalities via the national cost equalisation system (kostnadsutjämningssystemet), discussed in this blog. Another change that might soon come from her appointment is less directed government grants to municipalities. Directed grants more often need to be applied for and are supposed to be used for specific purposes. They also require more administration, read: time and money. If grants are more general they’re easier and can be used how the municipalities see fit. It could be good to remember that directed grants were at one time part of the general grant – they were changed to directed grants for a reason. It might be a good idea to find out why (and fix it) before switching back.
In all, these appointments could be exciting. Or at least interesting. And blog food. There will be plays to the political right and plays to the political left. So far, it must be said that the Social Democratic party has handled the differences without breaking apart in public. It’s impressive, or scary internal control.