Sweden to Get a New Government, But What About a New Policy?

On Monday of this week, the leader of the Moderate (conservative) Party, Ulf Kristersson, began probing the possibilities of forming a center-right government after the opposition won an extremely slim majority of two seats in the national elections, leading Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, a social democrat, to resign on Sept. 15. A Kristersson government would have the support of the nationalist Sweden Democrats in parliament, as well as of the small Christian Democratic and Liberal parties.

Such a government is not expected to make any major changes, in spite of the broad protest vote against the neoliberal paradigm, which resulted in 20% of the vote for the Sweden Democrats – more than the Moderates’ score. The Swedish establishment remains nonetheless in solid control, to push through the geopolitical agenda in support of NATO. Control over the media is now very close to war-time standards, with endless emotionally charged media reports stirring up support for the war against Russia.

Indeed, Sweden has foolishly supported the escalation towards world war, just as the suicidally radical Baltic states have done. The military forces already act as if the country were a NATO member, within the framework of the earlier extensive partnership and host nation agreements. Many joint expeditionary force deployments have already been carried out, in particular in Afghanistan.

Now, it is Turkey that is holding up NATO membership for Sweden. President Erdogan sent an “encouraging” message to the expected Prime Minister Kristersson, reminding him of all the conditions Ankara has attached to Sweden’s joining the alliance – most notably the expulsion of Kurdish politicians living there. But not even the xenophobic Sweden Democrats would be able to ensure that condition, which means that Swedish and Finnish membership will likely be postponed until a change occurs in Turkey.

On other issues, the new government is expected to support nuclear power, but since it also favors support for the neoliberal market system for electricity, there will be no lower prices, as any extra production goes to Germany. Moreover, the bailout of the financial system is still in the pipeline and began on Sept. 5, with a liquidity guarantee for power companies amounting to €25 billion.

Finally, we note that PM Magdalena Andersson, when announcing her resignation, spoke of “keeping the door” open to forming a new government with the opposition. This means that a Grand Coalition option still exists, to keep the “irresponsible” Sweden Democrats out of power, in particular if NATO’s war with Russia expands, requiring formation of a war-time coalition. Such a synarchist government would be difficult to contain, but not impossible, given the popular revolt against rising fuel prices and economic austerity reflected in the election results.