The Riksdag’s last party leader debate before the election should have sparked a desire to discuss what went wrong in the country and how Sweden should change in the future.
It did not. It burned most when it came to who can form a strong government.
Opposition leader Ulf Kristersson believes that this particular title is not enough to describe him. “I more often lead parliamentary majorities than just the opposition,” he said, citing examples of how he went about wanting to increase the defense budget, join NATO, and get parts of his economic policy through the Riksdag.
“It would be better if we could sit in the driver’s seat,” he summed up.
The moderate leader is about to make the government issue one of his main issues. It has often been central in Swedish election movements. In recent times, it has revolved around the fact that seven parties did not want to cooperate with the eighth, the Sweden Democrats.
Now Jimmie Åkesson’s party is a clear part of the blue team, and it is marketed as a strength.
Magdalena Andersson, on the other hand, has no team. The Center Party and the Left Party, both of which are part of her government base, cannot cooperate with each other.
The Left Party’s Nooshi Dadgostar asked the Prime Minister how things will go in next week’s budget vote. Should the government lose once again?
“Where does the Prime Minister’s border go, is she willing to rule under these conditions again?”, The left-wing leader asked critically.
The Prime Minister responded to what happens if her spring budget falls at a press conference after the debate:
“It’s something I think we can live with.”
Andersson and her representatives in the post of Prime Minister have three times before ruled in whole or in part on the opposition’s budgets. Now it can happen again.
It will be a difficult task for voters to find out who is responsible for the policies pursued. The opposition leader boasted of having ruled the country from the back seat. What should he be blamed or praised for and what falls on her?
Now Ulf Kristersson promises change, by forming a team before the election. But so far he is behind in the opinion polls.
The no-confidence vote against Morgan Johansson on Tuesday was a way of trying to shake the board and start the election campaign. It went so badly for the right-wing opposition that both the KD leader and the L-leader said that they would never have started this if they had to decide for themselves.
Magdalena Andersson really needs a team to be able to implement the policy she promises. She has managed the shaky journey forward because the opposition is so bad at shaping an alternative.
Kristersson has not been able to create a government base, despite the fact that there is a majority to the right of S in the Riksdag.
Andersson knew that. And therefore the solo player can be prime minister. But in the long run, it is unsustainable to govern with a policy one has chosen to stop.