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POLITICS

Swedish vocabulary: How to talk about the political crisis like a Swede

Keeping up with the twists and turns over the recent events in Swedish politics is a challenge, let alone navigating it in a foreign language. We've collected the key Swedish words and phrases you need to hold your own when the conversation turns to politics.

Published: 24 June 2021 17:28 CEST
Updated: 27 June 2021 09:08 CEST
Swedish vocabulary: How to talk about the political crisis like a Swede
'Vad är det som händer?' (What's going on) is a starting point. Photo: Lars Schröder/TT

What’s happening?

There’s a lot going on in Swedish politik (politics, but also ‘policy’) at the moment.

The regering (government) just lost a misstroendeförklaring (no-confidence vote) which saw a majority of the riksdag (parliament) vote to topple them. That’s created a regeringskris (government crisis).

There are two possibilities for what happens next: we could get a talmansrunda, which has no direct English translation but refers to talks between the talman (speaker of parliament) and partiledare (party leaders), or we could be heading for an extraval (snap election). The word for ‘election’ is val, which also means ‘choice’ and ‘whale’, just to make things extra confusing for Swedish learners.

The current crisis erupted over marknadshyror (market rents), a centre-right policy that the centre-left government reluctantly agreed to look into, but which was a step too far for the Left Party, on whose support the government relies. 

What next?

It depends if the statsminister (Prime Minister) chooses to go for an extraval or talmansrunda.

If it’s an extraval, it should take place in September and Swedish citizens over the age of 18 have rösträtt (right to vote) and will be able to rösta (vote). The most recent partisympatiundersökningar (party sympathy surveys) show that a right-wing government would be on track for a knapp majoritet (narrow majority) but it’s very, very close.

If it’s a talmansrunda, the talman will speak to the different partiledare and appoint one of them, who he thinks has a chance at forming a viable government, to sondera (this roughly means ‘to feel/sound out’ and in politics, it refers to chatting to the other leaders to see if they can gather enough support for a government).

Forming a viable government will require some parties to reach a kompromiss (compromise), since the Centre Party, for example, has ruled out samarbete (cooperation) with the Left but also with the far-right.

The parties

First there are the Socialdemokraterna (Social Democrats) and Miljöpartiet (Green Party), who have been running Sweden as a koalitionsregering (coalition government). 

They were able to come to power thanks to reaching an agreement with two former members of their opposition, the Centerpartiet (Centre Party) and Liberalerna (Liberals). The agreement where they agreed support in exchange for policy influence is called Januariavtalet (the January Deal), and that makes the Centre and Liberals stödpartier (support parties).

Also usually backing the government is Vänsterpartiet (the Left Party), although it has no formal agreement in place like the Centre and Liberals, so is technically part of the opposition — that’s why it pushed for a vote of no-confidence over one of the points in the Januariavtalet.

On the right side of the political spectrum, Moderaterna (the Moderates) and Kristdemokraterna (Christian Democrats) were formerly part of a four-party coalition with the Centre and Liberals called Alliansen (the Alliance). These parties are often referred to as de borgerliga (the bourgeois – which doesn’t automatically have the same strong connotations in Swedish as in English).

Further to the right are Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats), a party with roots in the far-right which runs on an anti-immigration platform.

Useful phrases

Vad finns det för alternativ nu? – What alternatives are there now?

Blir det ett extraval? – Will there be a snap election?

Till vems fördel blir ett extraval? – Who would benefit from a snap election?

Kommer Stefan Löfven kunna skapa en regering? – Will Stefan Löfven be able to form a government?

Varför är marknadshyror en så viktig fråga? – Why are market rents such an important issue?

Hur mycket inflytande kommer Vänsterpartiet/Centerpartiet få? – How much influence will the Left Party/Centre Party have?

Vad tror du kommer hända nu? – What do you think will happen next?

And if you find yourself in a political debate and not sure what to say next, you can never go wrong with a drawn out, non-committal njaaa… (well…).

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POLITICS

‘Very little debate’ on consequences of Sweden’s crime and migration clampdown

Sweden’s political leaders are putting the population’s well-being at risk by moving the country in a more authoritarian direction, according to a recent report.

Published: 29 April 2024 08:56 CEST
'Very little debate' on consequences of Sweden's crime and migration clampdown

The Liberties Rule of Law report shows Sweden backsliding across more areas than any other of the 19 European Union member states monitored, fuelling concerns that the country risks breaching its international human rights obligations, the report says.

“We’ve seen this regression in other countries for a number of years, such as Poland and Hungary, but now we see it also in countries like Sweden,” says John Stauffer, legal director of the human rights organisation Civil Rights Defenders, which co-authored the Swedish section of the report.

The report, compiled by independent civil liberties groups, examines six common challenges facing European Union member states.

Sweden is shown to be regressing in five of these areas: the justice system, media environment, checks and balances, enabling framework for civil society and systemic human rights issues.

The only area where Sweden has not regressed since 2022 is in its anti-corruption framework, where there has been no movement in either a positive or negative direction.

Source: Liberties Rule of Law report

As politicians scramble to combat an escalation in gang crime, laws are being rushed through with too little consideration for basic rights, according to Civil Rights Defenders.

Stauffer cites Sweden’s new stop-and-search zones as a case in point. From April 25th, police in Sweden can temporarily declare any area a “security zone” if there is deemed to be a risk of shootings or explosive attacks stemming from gang conflicts.

Once an area has received this designation, police will be able to search people and cars in the area without any concrete suspicion.

“This is definitely a piece of legislation where we see that it’s problematic from a human rights perspective,” says Stauffer, adding that it “will result in ethnic profiling and discrimination”.

Civil Rights Defenders sought to prevent the new law and will try to challenge it in the courts once it comes into force, Stauffer tells The Local in an interview for the Sweden in Focus Extra podcast. 

He also notes that victims of racial discrimination at the hands of the Swedish authorities had very little chance of getting a fair hearing as actions by the police or judiciary are “not even covered by the Discrimination Act”.

READ ALSO: ‘Civil rights groups in Sweden can fight this government’s repressive proposals’

Stauffer also expresses concerns that an ongoing migration clampdown risks splitting Sweden into a sort of A and B team, where “the government limits access to rights based on your legal basis for being in the country”.

The report says the government’s migration policies take a “divisive ‘us vs them’ approach, which threatens to increase rather than reduce existing social inequalities and exclude certain groups from becoming part of society”.

Proposals such as the introduction of a requirement for civil servants to report undocumented migrants to the authorities would increase societal mistrust and ultimately weaken the rule of law in Sweden, the report says.

The lack of opposition to the kind of surveillance measures that might previously have sparked an outcry is a major concern, says Stauffer.

Politicians’ consistent depiction of Sweden as a country in crisis “affects the public and creates support for these harsh measures”, says Stauffer. “And there is very little talk and debate about the negative consequences.”

Hear John Stauffer from Civil Rights Defender discuss the Liberties Rule of Law report in the The Local’s Sweden in Focus Extra podcast for Membership+ subscribers.

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