Truth missing in party leaders' talks

Shortly after the Eu parliamentary elections last Sunday, June 7 this year - the leaders of Sweden's two biggest parties gave glowing views on the result of the elections. Mona Sahlin, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party stated that "it was blowing red-green winds" while Moderate Party leader and current Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt spoke of "success" made in the elections.

DN Columnist Peter Wolodarski questioned such statements as lacking truth and pointed out that both parties were losers as they lost supporters to the Liberal and Green Parties. Such lack of candidness contributes to falsity in the public debate, and if both party leaders cannot admit the truth of losing, then who else would?

Those who made big inroad into the EU elections were smaller parties, even one new upstart whose pro-EU views were better understood by voters. For one, the Social Democratic Party prominently placed as its first candidate a known anti-EU politician. The Green Party which made a dramatic switch towards EU membership drew strong votes and went up from 6 to 11 percent. For most Swedes, membership in the EU is a certainty which makes anti-EU politicians less palatable to the voters.

The Swedish EU election had a low electoral turnout which indicated a lack of interest among voters, if not a lack of good knowledge on how exactly the politics in Brussels affect the individual lives of every Swedish citizen. The success of the newly-started Pirat Party and the Sverigedemokraterna is an indication of discontent among a majority of the Swedish electorate, creating a state of apprehension not just for the forthcoming national elections in 2010, but in how Sweden will cope with a deepening economic crisis.#

Swedish Moderate Party leaders criticise EU's growth strategy

Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Minister of Finance Anders Borg presented today in Dagens Nyheter's Debate, the Moderate Party's job manifesto five days before the EU parliamentary elections on Sunday, June 7th. A sustainable public sector finance should be the cornerstone in a new EU strategy for growth, they stated. The Lisbon strategy should have made the EU the world's most competitive economy in 2010, but even if some progress were made the strategy was a failure, they said. An overhaul and re-start is necessary already by autumn 2009 when Sweden takes over the EU Presidency, thus making the issue a priority question in the coming 5-year period, Reinfeldt and Borg wrote.

The two Moderate Party leaders claim that the strong measures adopted to cushion the impact of the financial crises lead to stable state finances, in comparison to those taken by countries like Great Britain, Ireland and Lithuania which resulted in severe cutbacks in state welfare budgets and increased public debts. " We want Sweden to be an example in the work against the crisis and a driving force for EU's becoming a strong force for common traffic rules in the finance markets, responsibility and long-sightedness when it comes to economic policies, as well as correct response for recovery. "It is for this reason that we in Sweden and in EU will look closely at short-term policies that risk making economic recovery harder and enabling unemployment to get deep-seated", they stated.

"It is important to remember that EU, even before the crisis already battled with bad growth conditions, a serious situation of immigrants standing outside the labour market and several member-countries inability to show sustainable public finances. Along with an aging population and the growing needs for welfare services which are old unsolved issues, there are new ones that need to be addressed. It is therefore necessary to have a long-term reform policy for more jobs and economic growth", Reinfeldt and Borg wrote.# (Translations made from DN, Debate June 2, 2009)