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EP-elections in Sweden

by A swedish kind of death
Sat May 2nd, 2009 at 05:33:18 AM EST

EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

I will hold this short and sweet.

Rules of the game
Proportional elections, 4% threshold, 19 seats. Easy to register party, the real obstacle to enter is that new parties have to distribute ballots to the poll stations. Seats are distributed in accordance to list-order, except if candidates get enoguh votes on them personally to pass a threshold. In the EP-elections that is quite common.

Promoted by afew

Swedish parties present in EP right now:

The ruling coalition in swedish parliament:
Moderaterna (neolib/con) - 4 seats, EPP.
Kristdemokraterna (con) - 1/2 (a) seat, EPP.
Folkpartiet (euroliberal) - 2/1 (b) seats, ALDE.
Centerpartiet (peasant/euroliberal) - 1 seat, ALDE.

The opposition in swedish parliament:
Socialdemokraterna (soc dem) - 5 seats, PES.
Miljöpartiet (green) - 1 seat, V-ALE.
Vänsterpartiet (post-communist) - 2 seats, GUE/NGL.

Only present in EP:
Junilistan (eurosceptic) - 3/2 (a) seats, IND/DEM.
Feminitiskt initiativ - 0/1 (b) seat, ALDE.

The x/y represent election/now. The period has seen to MEPs shift party.

a)June List - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In 2006 Wohlin, left the June List for the Christian Democrats, leaving the party with only two seats. Wohlin stated that he wanted to be able to "work for the Christian Democrats and the Alliance for Sweden in the 2006 parliamentary election" as reason for leaving the June List.^[2]
The June List was one of the founding members of the Independence and Democracy group in the European Parliament.

b)Feminist Initiative (Sweden) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

On the 1 March 2006, MEP Maria Carlshamre defected to Fi from the Liberal People's Party, due to "a lack of consideration for feminist issues among her former colleagues."[5] Just previous to her defection, Carlshamre had been convicted on charges on accounting fraud and the Liberal Party had called on her to resign as MEP.

Poll as of yesterday, with seat distribution (compared with the 2004 election)

The ruling coalition in swedish parliament:
Moderaterna (neolib/con) - 29,7% - 6 (+2) seats, EPP.
Kristdemokraterna (con) - 5,2% - 1 (+-0) seat, EPP.
Folkpartiet (euroliberal) - 9,0% - 2 (+-0) seats, ALDE.
Centerpartiet (peasant/euroliberal) - 5,4% - 1 (+-0) seat, ALDE.

The opposition in swedish parliament:
Socialdemokraterna (soc dem) - 29,2% - 5 (+-0) seats, PES.
Miljöpartiet (green) - 7,0% - 1 (+-0) seat, V-ALE.
Vänsterpartiet (post-communist) - 5,8% - 1 (-1) seats, GUE/NGL.

Not present in swedish parliament:
Junilistan (eurosceptic) - 0 (-3) seats, IND/DEM.
Feminitiskt initiativ - 0 (+-0) seat, to be determined.
Piratpartiet - 1 (+1) seat, to be determined.

Notes: Sweden has lost one seat since 2004. The fight for biggest party from Sweden in EP is wide open with the soc-dems 0,5% behind.

Campaings so far
Campaigns has barely started, with the exception of personal campaigns for some aspiring candidates.

European politics
Most discussed EP-directives this spring has been IPRED - or rather the swedish implementation thereof - and the Telecoms Package - in particular amendment 46 (previously 138).

But once the campaigns really get started it will probably be all about national economic politics, with a dash of who is better at getting the rest of the union to accept the present - and thus glorious - common political positions in swedish mainstream politics.

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Poll

Votes: 8
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EP-elections in Sweden | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 6)

Mandatory seed comment.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 04:15:01 AM EST

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (none / 1)

Thanks for the diary - it reminds me that I must hunt around and work out what is going on in the UK.

I'm only aware of the elections because of ET and because I am a Party member and we have to abide by regulations in terms of the materials that we hand out over the election period. There has barely been a peep otherwise in the UK.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 05:57:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 3)

In Wales:

There has barely been a peep otherwise in the UK.

Fran:

It's great to see that the BBC is making the effort to cover the Indian elections more extensively. India is, after all, the biggest democracy in the world.

However it's sad to see that there's no comparable Europe-wide coverage of the European Elections this year, despite the fact that the UK electorate will return MEPs to the European Parliament.

Most economists teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless. -- James K. Galbraith

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 06:01:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP-elections in UK (none / 1)

I think the principal Euro related story is Labour Party apparatchiks scare-mongering about the British National Party (fascists who sometimes wear suits to try unconvincingly to prove they are respectable really) appeal to traditional Labour voters.

I think this is a damage limitation exercise, so the Labour Party can claim "we may have come fifth in the Euro elections, but at least we beat the BNP into running sixth".

I fear the expenses scandal may take up all the political oxygen and leave the Euro elections with even less visibility than normal.

by Gary J on Mon May 11th, 2009 at 11:25:22 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 2)

I added the EUROPEAN ELECTIONS logo, hope you don't mind.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 07:05:36 AM EST

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (none / 0)

Not at all.

Thank you.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 03:02:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 6)

Thanks ASKOD

The Occasional Series on the EP elections 2009 (way down under 'recent diaries') is now getting quite meaty. It would be great if we had more national contributions for comparison of campaigns and candidates.

I also hope the editorial team will raise this collection of diaries to greater prominence in the run-up to the elections. We should also remember, in timing this featured prominence, that postal voting begins before the elections.

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 07:16:16 AM EST

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 4)

BTW The 'How the European Parliament works' website will launch officially in Helsinki on May 5th. I will report on the press conference and any media coverage next week. Keep your votes crossed ;-)

You can't be me, I'm taken

by Sven Triloqvist on Thu Apr 30th, 2009 at 03:14:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (none / 0)

Two questions.

given the US bra bra bra.. and Sweden being socialist and all that.. in which sense (spanish sense9 the conservative party is conservative? social values?

And second.. piracy party? this has to do with itnernet, isn't it? not with foreign policy and Somalia? I mean they are neo-con or computer users (or freaks as I would call myself)?

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Fri May 1st, 2009 at 12:59:10 PM EST

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 2)

The Pirate Party is mostly about copyright law reform:

The Pirate Party | Piratpartiet

Introduction to Politics and Principles
The Pirate Party wants to fundamentally reform copyright law, get rid of the patent system, and ensure that citizens' rights to privacy are respected. With this agenda, and only this, we are making a bid for representation in the European and Swedish parliaments.

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.

by Bernard on Sat May 2nd, 2009 at 06:55:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: EP-elections in Sweden (4.00 / 4)

The labels sometimes represent more their rethoric (reflecting their base) then their actual policy.

In economic policy the two blocs are pretty tightly wrapped around a center of low inflation (high unemployment) - independent central bank, high taxation (considering international comparisions) and generous welfare benefits (but not for all). The minor differences are played up to be system-altering. Still, the neo-libs are to the right of the socialists. :)

Conservative is mostly on the social axis. Though the scale might be somewhat different form the spanish one. Last year same-sex marriage was voted through parliament with everyone against Kristdemokraterna. Kristdemokraterna made a last ditch attempt with a minority opinion to seperate church and state more with civil unions for all.

More on the blocs can be read at someone's Swedish election thread from 2006.

Bernard gave a good link, though I feel compelled to add some of my previous diaries. The Pirates of Sweden from early 2006. The Pirate Bay is back up and demonstrations in Sweden sums up the boost after the TPB-raid. And Swedish politics: Rascism, Scandals and Piracy, Part 3: Piracy adds the election results of 2006.

A vote for PES is a vote for EPP! A vote for EPP is a vote for PES! Support the coalition, vote EPP-PES in 2009!

by A swedish kind of death on Mon May 4th, 2009 at 03:40:46 AM EST
[ Parent ]

EP-elections in Sweden | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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