Almedalen- where Swedish political parties struggle for legitimacy

All the Swedish political parties, media, political observers and cause-oriented groups, ordinary citizens are all converged this week in Almedalen, Gotland for a week of party presentations, discussions, seminars, interviews and speeches by the party leaders.
Almedalsveckan has been arranged on Gotland for over forty years. It all started in 1968 when Olof Palme spoke from a truck at the gunpowder tower in Almedalen.

The early years of political speech has evolved to become the largest political meeting place. Through democracy and openness during the week anyone who wants to debate the social issues attend. (Almedalen website)  It is basically the same issues tackled every electoral year. The only difference is which one is prioritised. There is education and schooling, which means calls for more places for a fast-growing children population that need day care services, so that their parents can go back to work after a year's maternity leave. Then there is also shortage of places in the nursing homes for the elderly for the increasing number of old people needing 24-hour care.

Unemployment is an urgent situation to be addressed, especially of the younger population that expresses their anger against the system through the use of violence and destruction of public properties.

The biggest problem that confronts all politicians and all electoral years is how to handle the unstoppable flow of refugees and asylum-seekers to Sweden, especially for those claiming reunification with families. This problem leads to the double-edged question of where to house them and what will they do for a living. Surely, they cannot depend on welfare benefits for the rest of their stay in Sweden.

The other day, the daily SvD published an article that pointed out the inequity of refugee-taking among the Swedish counties; that economically well-off counties take few while poorer counties have received more. The so-called "richer" counties are over-populated and do not have housing areas for refugees. Most of those living in these counties have work or incomes and can afford the high cost of living.

The minister of industry who heads the Center party-which used to be the farmers' party before, says that the countryside should be made more attractive, labour-market wise so that people, esp. refugees and immigrants can make a life there. However, based on existing realities, refugees and immigrants prefer to live in suburbs already populated by people from their own countries, or where their friends and relatives are living. Therefore there is Tensta, Rinkeby, Södertälje, Hässelby, plus other ghettos spread out in Stockholm's suburbs.

Sweden Democrats or Sverige Democrater is an extreme rightist party that gained its popularity by advocating lesser refugee and asylum-taking. It rationalises it by stating that there are many unemployed immigrants in Sweden, so why take on more and aggravate the employment crises. The other political parties cannot honestly admit that the refugee and asylum-taking burden is unequally- shared not just in Sweden but in Europe, even the Middle East where most of these Muslims are coming from. The Middle East with rich oil revenues don't give a damn about their own people in say, Syria?


Right now, we are all concerned with over-population in certain counties where work is hard to find. A workless situation is a bonfire waiting to ignite into flame. Work, housing, places for the young and the old, schooling, the environment's degradation, our commitment to humanity that should not be abused, and how much we have to pay in the form of taxes, so that everybody enjoys a quality of life that is above average, and where the burden of creating such a quality of life is equally-shared by all and do not rest alone in the hands of the working population. This is the highest form of solidarity in a society.#