The Green Party, Center Party and Left Party have all had their speeches in the spotlight regarding the budget bits they say they’ve won. The ruling Social Democrats open parliament tomorrow, so today was the Liberal Party’s turn to claim cred for getting something through budget negotiations.
“It’s time to be serious about starting up Sweden’s cement mixers” said Johan Pehrson, group leader for the Liberal Party (). He’s talking about building jails, presumably, not new footwear: The Liberal Party’s message was the 700 million kronor that is going to be allotted to upgrading the whole judiciary system and related instances. Everything from proactive measures to prevent crimes from being committed, to customs enforcement, to police resources, the coast guard and the coroner’s office, to Sweden’s Security Service and legal staffs, to actual penal buildings – they’re all are going to get a slice of the pie.
The question is if the pie is big enough to feed all those hungry mouths. According to the Liberal Party, these efforts are being made due to the persistent and persuasive efforts of their party, but aside from actual numbers there was hardly disagreement about the need for some sort of system restorative. The judicial system (rättsväsendet) gets a little under 50 million kronor in the current budget, so this is a little tonic, not a large one (). Perhaps not coincidentally, the Liberal Party is a little part of the discussion, not a large one.