svensk politik Archives • Page 5 of 10 • SwedeInternational

21 sep. – talks fail over gang-related crime

Discussions between all of Sweden’s political parties – except SD, as discussed in this blog post – on measures to combat rising gang violence has been a hot topic. It’s been weeks. It’s been a couple meetings. And it’s all just ended with the Moderate, Liberal and Christian Democratic parties leaving the deliberations in frustration.

Johan Forssell of the Moderate party has been vocal about his impatience with the process for a while now. On Friday, he said that the government had until Saturday to get its proposal together. Today is Saturday, and the Moderate, Liberal and Christian Democratic parties have now walked because the government’s proposal did not include some of the reforms that they wanted. These included increasing the number of police working on combating gang violence, doubling the sentence for gang-related crimes, getting rid of the youth rebate for offenders under 21 (straffrabatt för unga) and scrapping the “multi-crime discount” (mängdrabatt).

Just as an aside, the multi-crime discount is a particularly interesting Swedish sentencing praxis in which the more criminal offenses committed, the less time is served for the crimes after the first one. For example, say you have committed three crimes of similar severity. You are given the full sentence for the first crime, and the time you serve for the other crimes is reduced. This means that if all three crimes would normally get two years jail time, you would serve two years for the first crime, less than two years for the second crime and even less again for the third crime. If you are of the criminal bent, you definitely want to plan your crimes so that they all come up in court at once.

At some point in history this might have made sense. It’s hard to say. But at this point in history, the Moderate party and several others are saying it’s not making sense anymore.

The government, meanwhile, is going ahead with its own list of measures, being, one must assume, the more low-hanging fruit that everyone agreed on. This list includes things like getting rid of the youth rebate after repeated criminality, giving the police more leeway for reading encrypted communications, increased sentences for conveying narcotics, and increased sentences for gang-on-gang crimes. I’m not making this up. You can read about it in SvD here.

Further, the government has plans to make it easier for the police to get a search warrant for gang-related premises, and to create a national program to help people who want to get out of being in a gang.

It’s possible the Moderate party’s Johan Forssell painted himself into a corner with his ultimatum, and then had to follow up with leaving the negotiations. It wouldn’t have been a big deal to sign off on what they could agree on, and then go on to say that he would have liked a heck of a lot more but that the other parties said no. That would have forced the other parties to explain their no’s, rather than Forsell looking a just a tiny bit pouty. The Center Party chose to stay (just another example of the ever widening split in the former alliance) and looks either soft on the Social Democrats, or smart. Or both.

20 sep. – another collaborative effort

Sweden joined another defense initiative today. If you’re starting to wonder if you only dreamed that Sweden had a policy of not allying itself militarily with anyone, it’s understandable. After all, that is the rhetoric. But the reality has always been a little more hidden. Well, subtle. Maybe just more complicated.

Today’s announcement was that Sweden is signing on to the French initiative called EI2, European Intervention Initiative. EII was the first go around, EI2 is the second incarnation. Svenska Dagbladet boned it out for its readers ():

This was all originally Macron’s idea. His proposal was a common strategic culture, working towards a common defense budget, a common rapid response task force and a common action policy, including a humanitarian one. “To face new threats, Europe needs a strong defense,” the French Defense Ministry tweeted. “With the European Intervention Initiative, 10 European countries are committed to its protection” (). Sweden and Norway make 12.

As Norway’s inclusion hints at, the initiative lies outside of EU, and it is not meant to affect NATO in any way. Minister for Defense Peter Hultqvist adds that EI2 is a collaboration on risk assessment and threat analysis, experiences, and analysis of possible scenarios. “We want to use this as a platform with which to avoid crises in Europe and in the countries who participate” (http://bit.ly/SvDEI2). In other words, no Swedish forces are committed anywhere with EI2. We’re only just talking.

As SvD notes, the list of countries with whom Sweden cooperates tangent with the military isn’t that short. Finland and Great Britain were both recent defense cooperation signatories, and Sweden is signed up to materially support the UN and the EU. Sweden cooperates with NATO and is a member of Nordefco, a defense collaboration between us and Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway.

Yes, Sweden is officially militarily alliance-free. But we talk to people. We collaborate and we cooperate. We act in solidarity with people, and have promised to help people around us. And if the rubber hits the road here in Sweden, we hope that other countries will cooperate, collaborate, act in solidarity, and help us out too.

19 sep. – Shekarabi’s immigration play on fb

civilminister Ardalan Shekarabi
pic: gp.se

Ardalan Shekarabi might post as “a social democrat” on facebook, but he’s actually Minister for Public Administration (civilminister), not some random self-identified voter on the internet. Therefore it’s no featherweight suggestion he makes there that Sweden needs “a sustainable immigration policy and to keep the number of new immigrants low” ().

His facebook post reflects the split in the Social Democratic party regarding immigration, with several prominent persons expressing themselves rather in favor of a more restrictive immigration. As SvD notes, the youth wing of the party, SSU, came out in favour of an EU-wide immigration policy, stating that Sweden can’t be the only country taking asylum responsibility (). The thinktank Tiden has asked prominent Social Democrat, and Norrköping City Council member, Lars Stjernkvist, to formulate a future immigration policy in which the dreaded word “volume” is discussed ().

Shekarabi writes that “extreme segregation” is a threat to social cohesion, and that he would like to create “an inclusive national identity.”

This comes at almost the same time as the government has decreed (today) that new immigrants who decide for themselves that they want to live in a “socially vulnerable area” – IOW an area that is populated largely with immigrants who are low on the socioeconomic scale – will lose their daily social allowances (dagsersättning) from the government ().

The Liberal party immigration spokesperson Fredrik Malm remarked that there are problems of extremely crowded living and segregation associated with these areas: School children, for example, can’t concentrate on their studies when they live in crowded conditions. If new immigrants live in state-run institutions, it is easier to reach them and provide social services, it is argued ().

However, no one has suggested actually revoking the Law of Own Accommodation (EBO-lagen – lagen om eget boende), that was begun in 1995 and allowed new immigrants to establish themselves wherever in the country they wanted. Quite naturally, this turned out to be where they found others from their country, and where they didn’t feel so alone. This has turned out to be city suburbs, and the rest is segregation history. In many respects, these areas are economic grey areas anyway, and it is unsure whether the threat of taking away allowances is going to have any effect.

Meanwhile, Shekarabi’s post may only be his way of jockeying for a better position in the race to succeed Löfven as party leader. As Rahm Emanuel said to Obama in the beginning of Obama’s first term as president, at the height of the 2008 economic crisis, “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste” (nyti.ms/NYTimesBiggestCrisis).

18 sep. – a jobs package that we hope helps

A lot has been said about Sweden’s budget, as hints of what it will contain came out in dribs and drabs. It’s been talked about in this blog here, here, here and here. Here, and here too. But the guessing is over – the budget came out today.

Most of what had earlier been leaked came true, although the numbers sometimes took a hit. One thing that hasn’t been talked about so much in advance is the jobs package. We have now learned that the government, the Social Democratic party and the Green party, and its supporting cast of the Center and Liberal parties, have put together a packet of job-related measures expected to cost 1.3 billion kronor.

The jobs package is an umbrella term for measures that aim to increase employment and employability. Latest unemployment figures show an increase of a full percent, to 7.1% unemployed in August. This is 56,000 fewer people than were employed at this time last year. Sysselsättningsgraden – how many people were employed for at least one hour during the measured week – was 68.3% in August (bit.ly/EkonomifaktaSysselsättning). The buzz is that an economic downturn is on the horizon, and these numbers aren’t encouraging.

Of the 1.3 billion kronor, the biggest outlay is for paying for extra services and introductory jobs (extratjänster och introduktionsjobb). Extra service jobs are jobs mostly in the service sector and are directed to long-term unemployed and newly arrived immigrants. Introductory jobs are largely the same but are private-company based. The government pays the employer to employ someone, and that person in turn receives a regular job-commensurate salary. The government basically tries to make it easier and economically advantageous to hire people who would not normally be very sought after. About 427 million kronor has been designated for this effort, and 2,200 people are expected to benefit from it ( http://bit.ly/AftonbladetJObbpaket).

Another outlay goes to labor market training programs, in which a job seeker receives training for a specific field or job that the Employment Service (Arbetsförmedling) thinks they’re suited for and in which there is a need for workers. Bus drivers, truckers and even excavator operators are named as occupations that need filling (http://bit.ly/AftonbladetJObbpaket).

Another financial injection has been designated for “education lifts” (kunskapslyft). In this case, 281 millions kronor is earmarked for the further education of adults who have some education behind them but who need more to better meet job market requirements. Another example is funding the pedagogical education for adults who have job experience behind them but who need the extra education to become qualified teachers. 1000 people are expected to be helped by this measure (http://bit.ly/AftonbladetJObbpaket).

The jobs package budget proposal will be replacing funds that the current Moderate and Christian Democratic budget cut back last spring. These programs were cut because they were generally considered ineffective – more people did not find jobs after having gone through these programs than if they hadn’t. But now these programs are back, in basically unchanged form.

16 sep. – oil prices start ticking

A drone attack by Huthi rebels in Yemen, backed by Iran, hit oil production facilities in Saudi Arabia last Friday and caused a production stop to the tune of 5.7 million barrels per day. Or putting it another way, halting 6% of the world’s oil supply (). Something fun to do might be to sit outside a gas station and watch the price of a liter gas (and diesel) flicker up and down as the extent of the strike damage filters up to us here in Sweden.

The Swedish Energy Agency, energimyndigheten, states that Sweden imports about 22 million cubic meters of crude oil a year, mostly from the North Sea and Russia. We also have some heavy duty refining companies (see Preem blog here) making us, believe it or not, also an exporter of refined petroleum products. Be that as it may, the drone strike has led to the highest single-day oil price increase, in Sweden, ever ().

But it doesn’t stop there. All those Wish orders from China clogging up PostNord? China, but also India and South Korea, import huge amounts of oil from Saudi Arabia. The increase in cost makes manufacturing and transport even more expensive. Eventually, that makes the price we pay here also more expensive. Even if there is no shortage of petroleum in the world, and most countries have even a certain back-up supply, the hit makes things uncertain and unstable – two “un”s that spell turbulence.

Although the Huthi rebels have taken responsibility for the drone attack, there remain some doubts as to whether or not they could really have done it. Worst would be if they prove they can by doing it again. It also puts an extreme damper of the worst kind on Sweden’s hopes of helping mediate an end to the war. Since Margot Wallström has left the building at Arvfurstens palats it’s unlikely that our new Minister for Foreign Affairs Ann Linde will pick up the glove. It looks like she wouldn’t find any interested parties over there anyway.

15 sep. – pride needed more than ever

Sölvesborg, on the east coast of Blekinge, has decided, that in the future, they will not raise the gay pride flag on the local municipal building. Not even in August, which is unofficially pride month and when the marches generally begin. Not that there’s ever been a pride march in Sölvesborg – but there will be now.

Not coincidentally, Sölvesborg municipality is run by a coalition of parties – Moderates, Christian Democrats, Sweden Democrats as well as the local parties Sölvesborg- and Lister parties.

Since 2013, the pride flag was raised during the month of August, a precedent set by the then-ruling Social Democratic party. Current City Commissioner Louise Erixson of the Sweden Democrats says that the pride flag is a political symbol and is not an official part of the municipality’s flag policy. The pride flag was an exception to the flag policy, she says, and something that undermined flag policy tradition. Erixson notes that Sölvesborg raised the pride flag for Stockholm Pride, an organisation that has positioned itself in opposition to 30% of Sölveborgs’ voters when it excluded the Sweden Democrats from its party leader debates. “A municipality that raises the pride flag therefor positions itself, if indirectly, behind this kind of undemocratic behavior,” Erixson continued ().

But that isn’t the problem, Erixson stated. “It’s an example of a problem that can come up when a municipality, which should be neutral, breaks with traditional flagging rules.”

The Moderate Party’s spokesperson for HBTQ issues, Filippa Reinfeldt, opposed the change, calling it inappropriate. “Every municipality can decide for itself if it wants to raise the Swedish flag or the municipality coat-of-arms… But, regarding the pride flag, it’s not the Moderate Party’s position and is completely inappropriate. I see the pride flag as a symbol for freedom and the right to be and to love who you want ().

Another critic is Sophia Ahlin, Moderate Party member and chair for the nearby Karlskrona Pride. SVT Blekinge reports that a pride parade in Sölvesborg is now in the works – on Friday during Pride Week (). There’s never been a pride parade in Sölvesborg before, but one is clearly needed more than ever.

Sep. 14 – at least Social Democrats still no. 1

pic: svd.se/ny-svd-sifo-sd-far-hogsta-siffran-nagonsin

The Sweden Democrats are at a new high in the polls. At 20.2 % they are again the second most popular party in Sweden, with a 2% increase in support since the last poll. The increase is largely due to increased support in Stockholm. It is also said that SD gains when the other parties try to shut it out, like in the current all-party-minus-SD talks on how to meet the rise in violent crime ().

Just today’s headlines – “Man taken into custody after morning’s shooting” () and “Explosion in Lund – female student seriously injured” () – are examples of what voters are waking up to. Morning’s shooting? It makes you wonder what’s on the agenda for the afternoon. The student was injured in the explosion directed at the corner store below her on the first floor.

It’s a dangerous development when people don’t feel safe. It’s a dangerous development when what politicians do and what they describe isn’t matched by what people are experiencing. It’s easy to understand that people cast about for something untried, since what’s been tried isn’t addressing their concerns. The government, and the parties they’re working with, need to up their game. That at least the Social Democratic party is still no. 1 is not good enough.

13 sep. – rough road to rules on scooters

Clogging the sidewalks, running over people, driving on the sidewalks, creating traffic problems, being a lot of fun… electric kick scooters are accused of a lot of bad things (except that last one, which is just true). Yesterday in Dagens Nyheter, Green Party member and traffic city commissioner Daniel Helldén called for a slew of new regulations to make scooters less wild horse and more dog-on-a-leash ().

First, he suggests, scooters need their own vehicle category in order to more accurately be addressed. Because scooters aren’t pedaled, they’re allowed on the sidewalks as long as they’re going at a walking pace. This creates a lot of irritation on the part of pedestrians. Furthermore, he writes, the city should require scooter companies to apply for a special license to operate on city streets. This would allow the city to regulate scooter numbers, their parking, and even the number of companies renting out scooters. Helldén also suggests increasing the scope and responsibilities of parking enforcement officers to include scooter handling.

Sweden’s police corps agree that juridically, electric scooters get lumped together with bicycles and so have very few regulations.

Although Sweden does love a good regulation, cities the world over have struggled with what to do with this craze/brilliant city transportation method. Here’s a small sample:

Tokyo. According to DN, scooters in Tokyo have kick stands that apparently fall out automatically, preventing their lying all over the sidewalk. The Asian Review notes that scooters there have license plates, side mirrors, and must drive on the road (s.nikkei.com/AsianReviewScooters).
Brussels. Scooters in Brussels must park in specific zones or the company has to pay a fine. Unknown if they then pass on this fine to scooterers, but otherwise, not so much regulations. Possibly, they are very popular with lower level EU bureaucrats flying off to different meetings to discuss other regulations.
São Paulo. Scooter drivers must stay off the sidewalk and must wear a helmet.
Beijing. Nope, no scooters.
Moscow. Scooters are limited to 20 km/hour. This after there were some models that went up to 90 km/hour.
UK. Not legal. Because they are motorised and pedal-less they can’t be used on sidewalks and bike lanes, and because they’re so slow they’re not allowed on the road. Word is, that you won’t get arrested if you’re scootering carefully, but you run a risk ().
Canada. Toronto is still thinking about allowing them. Montreal has designated parking areas (widely ignored it seems), and you need a helmet. Meanwhile, in Calgary and Edmonton no helmet is required, but their driving differs – in Calgary, it’s allowed to drive on the sidewalk but not on the road, while in Edmonton the opposite is true ().
Germany. One scooterist was found out on the autobahn, and in Munich there were 900 cases of scootering while drunk (this is verboten) so there are problems a little everywhere and stricter regulations are in the works
NYC. Are you kidding? No. No scooters. This would be crazy. Bad enough with all the e-mopeds on the sidewalk.
Madrid. Helmets if you’re under 16, and only on a certain kind of road (and not in roundabouts). Apparently though, Madrid has a tradition of allowing blind people to have stands selling lottery tickets throughout the city. Carelessly parked scooters and people with visual impairments is truly a very bad combination. No wonder that people are in an uproar about it.

The above examples are taken from both DN’s and SvD’s reporting () and ().

It’s a hodgepodge out there. Scooter responsibly.

12 sep. – a better economy for those with a fixed economy

“Life should be good for the country’s retirees,” said Löfven. “That’s all there is to it” (). With these words, the Prime Minister announced that taxes on pensions are going to be reduced for all retirees with a pension of more than 17,000 kronor a month (retirees with a pension lower than 17000 a month got a tax reduction last year).

Although he made it sound like the most obvious, and easiest, thing in the world to do, if it had been, he would have perhaps done this earlier than five years after having taken power. The Moderate Party’s economic spokesperson Elisabeth Svantesson didn’t waste any time giving her response: “Retirees have gotten tax reductions to the tune of 27 million kronor over the last ten years, and the Moderate Party has been behind 21 of them” (b). It appears everyone is in agreement that reducing taxes on people that can’t exactly go out and get a new job with a better retirement plan is a good idea.

The government also announced raising the basic pension by 200 kronor a month. The basic pension is what is doled out to persons that have no other retirement income, and also to those who have a pension but one that is extremely low. This is a lot of people, people. 675,000 people, according to Expressen. Even the housing supplement is being raised to a maximum of 7000 kronor a month for singles (3500 kronor for a married person).

All in all, the measures announced today will come in at 4.3 billion kronor (). Where exactly the money is coming from, and what might take a hit, remains an awkward question that definitely poisons the punch bowl.

Hold on to your hats, the full budget will be presented on the 18th of September.

11 sep. – book cutting

The television program Go’Kväll, Good Evening, shown daily on Sweden’s Television, announced the other day that it would no longer have a book review segment. This has riled up a lot of people, including the newspaper Expressen and other smaller dailies around the country. “Bye-bye public education,” wrote program host and author Daniel Sjölin. “Now is the final annihilation of literature’s presence on SVT” ().

SVT says that they need to renew and rejuvenate the program. Apparently the show’s loyal audience is made up of women in the over-55 category. Which is bad or something. “It’s like SVT wet their finger, held it up in the air, and figured that only Netflix matters” said Ingalill Mosander, who has worked on the program for twenty years.

Not at all, responds Bengt Strömbro: “we’re neither hunting a younger audience nor dicking around with our faithful viewers: It’s about developing the format to increase interest, and staying relevant.” (He could have said messing around, or screwing around, but you get the picture.)

SVT’s programming choices are not irrelevant. It’s the state TV channel, the one you don’t have to pay for in some cable package to see, but to which some of your taxes go. It’s formally run by a foundation, which serves as a sort of buffer between the state and the channel’s organisation. Until just recently, only January of this year, the board members of the foundation were politically appointed. Someone finally figured out how weird that looked, and they changed it.

SVT’s role is to meet the interests of all of Sweden, and to contribute to a feeling of community around the country. “When people in Sweden are watching at the same time, and sharing the same experience, we create a feeling of connection – we share both solemnity and laughs” ( https://www.svt.se/omoss/var-roll/). In this case, they took out a possibility for both solemnity and laughs when they cut the book coverage.