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Sweden in political crisis after lawmakers adopt opposition’s budget

Sweden was plunged into political crisis after lawmakers voted to adopt the opposition group's budget after rejecting the one put forward by the government.

Published: 24 November 2021 16:21 CET
Updated: 24 November 2021 17:32 CET
Sweden in political crisis after lawmakers adopt opposition's budget
File photo of Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson. This is the first governmental budget co-negotiated by his party. Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

To read the latest on the political crisis and the resignation of the new PM we have all the latest news at THIS LINK.

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Andersson was elected the country’s first woman prime minister on Wednesday, but she immediately faced a major setback that risks toppling her before she even takes office.

Just hours after her election, she faced a major setback when the Centre Party withdrew its support for her budget, due to the concessions made to the Left.

Andersson will now have to govern with the budget presented by the opposition conservative Moderates, Christian Democrats and far-right Sweden Democrats, which was adopted by parliament.

She was undeterred, saying “I think I can govern the country regardless”.

The right-wing’s opposition budget – negotiated jointly by the conservative Moderates and Christian Democrats and the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats – passed through parliament with 154 votes to 143 after the Centre Party announced that they would abstain at the 11th hour.

It will be the first time Sweden is run on a budget co-authored by a far-right party.

Coalition partners the Green Party then announced that they will leave government, which may spark a second prime minister vote.

In a press conference, Green Party spokespersons Per Bolund and Märta Stenevi described the approved budget as “differentiating between people, butchering the environmental budget, and increasing emissions”, referring to the new budget’s lowered petrol and diesel tax – a reduction of 50 öre per litre from May 1st 2022. 

They stated in the press conference that they “cannot sit in a government on a budget negotiated by the Sweden Democrats.”

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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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