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| From a rose garden I passed by last week |
♫ I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden
Along with the sunshine there's gotta be a little rain sometime
When you take you gotta give so live and let live or let go
I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden ♫
Lynn Anderson's old hit came to mind while I was pondering how to present this post, following up on the situation in Swedish politics. (Feel free to skip the politics, and just enjoy the roses and the music, if you prefer! Full Youtube video hopefully included at the bottom, if the link works out as intended.)
Today our parliament took another vote, this time with the result that our previous Prime Minister (recently resigned after a vote of no confidence against him in the parliament) made a comeback and was elected as 'new' Prime Minister. An outcome that was more or less expected - at least since Monday, when the opposition's candidate stepped down, declaring that he had not been able to find enough support to form a new government.
The new government will be pretty much the same as before, i.e. a minority government consisting of the Social Democrats + the Green Party. However, their position now may be seen as even weaker, as old agreements have fallen, and one minor support party, the Liberals, has joined "the other side". And the two support parties that remain, the Centre and the Left, agree on very little except that they do still prefer this government to a right-wing alternative which would include the "extreme right" party, the Sweden Democrats.
Whether the government will also manage to gather enough support in the parliament to pass their budget later on in the autumn, still remains to be seen, though. Our PM Stefan Löfven is known as a skillful negotiator but this may be his toughest job so far. On the other hand, no one on either side is likely to be keen on a snap election only months before the next regular election in September 2022... So I suppose they're hoping to make things work until then somehow, with compromises, and by postponing the most controversial issues.
10 comments:
so after all of THAT he is back and nothing has changed, sounds just like here and everywhere... i love Lynn and the old song
Oh dear not good, I know of a few countries in the same position, maybe you can borrow Jacinda?
I remember this song well! Oh well, at least at must be comforting to know there are likely not to be any huge changes in the government.
That song has always been a favourite. A breakfast radio host here has become fascinated with your political situation and now gives a detailed report each morning. So complicated! (Unlike the simple beauty of those roses!)
It is a joy to walk the streets of my neighbourhood this time of year, with roses in bloom (almost over, actually) in nearly every garden, and their scent mingling with that of the tiny white blossoms on the privet hedges as well as the occasional lime tree in bloom. Wonderful!
Less wonderful is the state of politics in your country, as in so many others. A lot of politics is about compromise, I understand that. But if that is almost impossible to achieve on major topics and the administration is paralysed, things can lead to people become so frustrated that they vote for what they perceive as a better alternative, which in their eyes could be populist and extreme right parties.
Sandra, determining whether it was all for "nothing" or not is something that will probably keep politicians as well as political commentators busy for years to come (or at least past the next proper election)... ;)
Amy, I have to confess I needed to look up Jacinda, and as I did so (reading the Wikipedia article), I realised that we hear very little of New Zealand politics over here (or else I haven't been paying attention). Are you sure you could spare her?? ;)
Ginny, I'm hoping it will turn out for the best, but it seems likely to continue to be a bumpy road ahead. And no guarantee that even the next election (in 2022) will sort it out.
That's interesting to hear, Pauline. As I commented to Amy above, we hear very little about New Zealand politics here.
Meike, yes, sadly history has proved that even democracy is no absolute guarantee against extremism.
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