The 2010 national election in Sweden on Sept 19th is just 18 days away and the two major coalitions - the non-Socialist alliance which is currently in power and the Socialist's red-green coalition are grappling with basically the same issues that all elections in the past have tackled: jobs, welfare, schools, healthcare and taxes. What differentiates the two blocks are the priorities undertaken and the beneficiaries of tax incentives and reductions.As indicated in most of the political barometers, the governing non-Socialist alliance has taken the lead over the opposition Socialist red-green coalition. Without going into any specific analysis on this trend, the easiest conclusion on why the non-Socialists are getting greater confidence from the electorate is how they handled the economy during the 2008 financial crisis. That they succeeded in implementing measures that cushioned the impact of the economic world turbulence on Sweden's economy is a remarkable success. Several EU-member countries are finding it difficult to immerse from budgetary deficits and without help from international and European financial institutions, could sink into a quagmire.
The non-Socialist alliance has been a successful model of a united political platform , that is to say - one voice on most issues of concern to the Swedish electorate: employment and job incentives which means that work is more beneficial than social welfare dependency. Taxes of low-income earners were considerably reduced and new job creation incentives were introduced. The other priority areas are the schools and healthcare sectors - how much more in additional budget would they be getting in consideration of the growing population of old people and the increasing number of babies needing placements in daycare centers.
Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt in the recent launching of the non-Socialist alliance platform promised further tax reduction, especially to the older people whose highly- taxed low pension has been a constant source of discontent. The economy permitting, he has set an ambition goal to lower further income taxes thereby inducing new jobs through lower employer's fees. The opposition Socialist red-green coalition wants to raise taxes to finance the needs of various sectors, which could lead to greater welfare dependency. The message is that, it does not pay to work because one could get as much through unemployment benefits and it will be more expensive for employers to hire due to expensive social costs.
The issue of taxes hits the main pulse of every voter and it is as close as it gets to becoming an emotional issue. If there is any criticism that can be made in the increasing tempo of the election campaign, it is the lack of emotional appeal of the election slogans made by each party and the two blocks. Slogans don't grab one's attention and don't ignite any enthusiasm. Compared to most elections in other countries where there is a life and death struggle to be heard, to convince and to win, the Swedish elections - including this forthcoming one is bereft of passion and conviction. It is too rational that it actually forgets how emotional some issues are to many voters especially those living on the margin of society.#
Nice one. In my view Swedish elections have always been quite a sedate and dull exercise, and that can be both good and bad. Good in the sense that the country is in such an advanced state of democracy that rhetorics and passions need not run high and voters know exactly what they're getting into. But it could be bad in the sense that the populace has either been entrenched in its political thinking and actions -- voting based on habit and tradition. On the other hand, we should not ignore the increasing number of young voters and the rise of social media in society. The growing presence of the more conservative Swedish "New Democrats" (SD) and their potential entry into Swedish Parliament is also something to ponder upon. Immigration is one of the emotional issues that's bound to erupt in the run-up to the election. Let's hope that the voters - young and not so young -- opt to ignore the deceptive charm of the SD party and vote wisely.
ReplyDeleteThank you for adding some very important observations, in particular the changing constitution of the Swedish voters and rightly said, the role of the social media.
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