The Moderate Party

(Moderaterna)
Leader: Fredrik Reinfeldt, prime minister

The Swedish Moderate Party is the largest party in the ruling center–right Alliance for Sweden**. With its blend of conservatism and liberalism — the party has shifted toward the center of the political spectrum under Fredrik Reinfeldt — the Moderate Party is largely supportive of Sweden’s strong social welfare system while at the same time engaging in tax cuts and the privatization of state-owned businesses. A key policy has been to get people off benefits and into work. Rebranded as “the New Moderates,” the party is positioning itself as “the workers’ party of today” in an attempt to win over blue-collar voters from the opposition.

Author’s comment:
The Moderate Party’s two leading figures, Prime Minister Reinfeldt and Finance Minister Anders Borg, have impressed with their competent handling of public finances in the wake of the global recession. Borg has a background as an economist and really knows his stuff, while Reinfeldt won praise at home and abroad during Sweden’s six-month presidency of the European Union. Reinfeldt is seen as a strong leader, and he and his party have emerged largely unscathed following allegations against a Moderate Party minister who resigned during the summer. The “workers’ party” tag is a cheeky attempt to win Social Democrat voters, but the Moderates are hardly a labor-centered organization.
 

The Liberal Party

(Folkpartiet Liberalerna)
Leader: Jan Björklund, minister for education

Sweden’s Liberal Party is part of the governing center–right Alliance**. Pro-euro and pro-nuclear power, its politics are based on social liberalism, with respect for the individual but also support for market-based social welfare programs. The party, which has mainly middle-class support, has traditionally had a strong focus on education, and is calling for the quality of education and research to be improved. It also wants red tape to be cut for people starting businesses, and free choice for health care. The Liberal Party says that it will work for an “integrated Sweden,” fighting against segregation and discrimination.

Author’s comment:
Observers have noted that the Liberal Party has moved toward what they label “demand liberalism” — that it is right and proper to place demands on immigrants and the unemployed, among others. As a result, while the party says it will fight segregation and discrimination, its policies for doing so are actually seen as discriminatory by some. The Liberal Party wants to bring in language tests for immigrants taking Swedish citizenship, and Liberal MP Nyamko Sabuni, Swedish minister for integration and gender equality, has proposed citizenship classes for immigrants. Some commentators have argued that there is not much that is liberal about such ideas.
 

The Center Party

(Centerpartiet)
Leader: Maud Olofsson, deputy prime minister and minister for energy and enterprise

The Swedish Center Party has its roots in rural Sweden but today describes its politics as “green liberalism” and also attracts urban voters. Core issues for the party are entrepreneurialism, jobs, care for the environment and the climate. The party is pro-immigration and stands for openness and diversity. As its name suggests, the Center Party has long been in the middle of the political spectrum and has cooperated with parties of the right and left. As a part of the Alliance for Sweden** coalition the Center Party has clearly positioned itself as non-socialist, with the Social Democrats as its main opponent.

Author’s comment:
In Sweden as elsewhere, political parties of the left and right have been moving toward the center in their attempts to win power. As such, the Center Party has some difficulty distinguishing itself, and can often seem all too similar to the Moderate Party. Dropping its historic and strident opposition to nuclear power to fall into line with its Alliance partners made it look like it was abandoning its ideological principles. While the Center Party has otherwise impressed on environmental issues and has been working hard to be an alternative to the Green Party, supporting the building of new reactors most likely deterred some green voters.
 

The Christian Democrats

(Kristdemokraterna)
Leader: Göran Hägglund, minister for health and social affairs

Sweden’s Christian Democrats, the smallest party in the ruling center–right Alliance for Sweden**, place the family unit at the heart of their politics. Under the banner “a more human Sweden,” the Christian Democrats’ key issues include improving care for the elderly, the right of parents to decide over childcare for their children, decreasing red tape for companies, and lowering taxes. With Christian ethics as its foundation, the party makes much of the idea of the traditional nuclear family, while “human dignity” is put forward as the starting point for all politics.

Author’s comment:
With voter support hovering around the 4 percent mark, the Christian Democrats risk losing their place in the Swedish parliament in the coming election. That is hardly surprising — it can’t be easy being a religious party in a country where only about 4 percent of the population attends church regularly and less than one-quarter believes in a personal god. And for all its talk about compassion, human dignity and family values, the party — which is against same-sex marriage and which was the only party to choose not to be present at the Stockholm Pride festival — can come across as being out of touch with a mainly secular nation where “unconventional” families are increasing in number.
 

The Social Democratic Party

(Socialdemokraterna)
Leader: Mona Sahlin

The left-of-center Social Democratic Party is Sweden’s eldest, biggest and historically most successful party, which has to a large extent been responsible for the country’s famous welfare system. Having lost power in the election of 2006, the Social Democratic Party is claiming that inequality has grown in Swedish society in the years since, and is selling itself as the party of equality, welfare and jobs. It is painting Sweden as a “country of opportunities,” and is promising to create jobs while improving the social insurance system. If elected, the Social Democratic Party will govern with the Green Party and the Left Party in a “red–green coalition.”

Author’s comment:
The Social Democratic Party has long been the default party of government in Sweden. In power for much of the last century, the party has lost just four elections since World War II. But polls show that their current leader, Mona Sahlin, is widely seen as lacking the skills and qualities to lead the country. So while a large number of Swedes would consider themselves natural supporters of the Social Democratic Party, the perceived lack of a strong leader may work against them in September, particularly now when Sweden needs a competent guide through the economic minefield.
 

The Green Party

(Miljöpartiet de gröna)
Spokespersons: Maria Wetterstrand and Peter Eriksson

Sweden’s Green Party is the youngest parliamentary party, which has grown to be one of the best supported. It wants dependence on oil to be ended, out-of-town shopping centers to be discouraged, organic farming to be promoted and investment in rail transport increased. The party also stands for decentralization of political power and gender equality, and is against the concentration of power in the hands of career politicians. Therefore, the party limits its elected representatives to three terms and has two spokespersons instead of a formalized leadership. Together with the Social Democratic Party and the Left Party, the Green Party forms a “red–green coalition.”

Author’s comment:
Riding on Swedish voters’ internationally high levels of concern for the environment and on the popularity of spokesperson Maria Wetterstrand in particular, the Green Party could become Sweden’s third largest political party at the coming elections. Polls put support for the party at about 10 percent, far behind the Moderate Party and Social Democratic Party but comfortably ahead of the others. Wetterstrand has been impressive: hugely competent and authoritative, but also likable. But while the Green Party’s rules for keeping out career politicians are refreshing, they may ultimately harm its electability — as Wetterstrand must step down from her post in 2011.
 

The Left Party

(Vänsterpartiet)
Leader: Lars Ohly

The Swedish Left Party, at one time known as the Communist Party of Sweden, is a socialist and feminist organization. It strives for a classless society and its watchwords are welfare, equality, peace, solidarity and democracy. The party believes that the so-called Swedish model is under attack from right-wing forces and has set itself the task of defending and developing the public sector. As such it recently rebranded itself as the “Welfare Party” for the run-up to the election. The Left Party has entered into a “red–green coalition” with the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party and will govern with them if elected.

Author’s comment:
While domestic issues such as jobs, welfare and gender equality top the Left Party’s priorities, the majority of its media coverage recently has concerned issues like pulling Swedish troops out of Afghanistan and a boycott of Israeli goods. On issues like family policy and climate change the party has been less visible, which contributes to the impression that the party lacks realism. While the “Welfare Party” slogan may bring some new focus on its core values, the party’s communist roots remain a sticking point for many would-be voters. The Left Party has lost support and is focused on winning back voters from the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party.
 

The Sweden Democrats

(Sverigedemokraterna)
Leader: Jimmie Åkesson

The Sweden Democrats portray themselves as a nationalist party out to preserve Swedish traditions. The party is calling for a “responsible” immigration policy with greatly reduced numbers of asylum seekers allowed to stay, and wants to make it tougher for relatives of immigrants already in Sweden to enter the country. Under the banner “security and tradition,” the Sweden Democrats are calling for tougher sentences for criminals, a public register of convicted pedophiles and the improvement of economic conditions for pensioners. They also want to expand financial support for Swedish culture, which they perceive as being under threat from abroad.

Author’s comment:
The Sweden Democrats have yet to reach the threshold of 4 percent support necessary for entering parliament, but polls show that 2010 could be their year. While the party’s anti-immigrant stance has won it seats on local councils in a handful of municipalities, it remains very much a fringe organization that is often despised and ridiculed — or ignored — by the mainstream press and largely disregarded by the majority of the Swedish population. Although the Sweden Democrats attempt to dissociate themselves from racism and claim to have expelled openly extremist members, most voters view them as a far-right party.

*The selection of parties is based on the result of recent polls.
**The center–right Alliance for Sweden is a coalition of the Moderate Party, the Center Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats.

David Wiles

David Wiles is a British journalist living in Sweden. He isn't eligible to vote as he still hasn't filled in the Swedish citizenship application form that's been lying in his in-tray since the last election.

The author alone is responsible for the opinions expressed in this article.