BREAKING: Swedish Prime Minister (Right-Wing, Rove Friend) Resigns After Election Loss

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Sun Sep 14, 2014, 05:52 PM - Edit history (4)

Source: Bloomberg News

@AP: BREAKING: Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt concedes election defeat, says he will step down.

SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER RESIGNS AFTER ELECTION LOSS

By KARL RITTER
— Sep. 14, 2014 5:30 PM EDT

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt says he will resign after his center-right coalition lost a parliamentary election to a left-leaning opposition led by the Social Democrats.

Reinfeldt told supporters in Stockholm late Sunday that he will also step down as leader of the conservative Moderate Party next year.

With more than 90 percent of precincts counted, official preliminary results give the bloc headed by Social Democratic leader Stefan Lofven 43.7 percent of the votes, compared to 39.4 percent for Reinfeldt's coalition, which has been in power for the past eight years.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/power-shift-expected-swedish-election-0

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-14/social-democratic-bloc-emerges-as-largest-in-swedish-election.html

Social Democratic Bloc Emerges as Largest in Swedish Election

By Johan Carlstrom
September 14, 2014 2:07 PM EDT

Sweden’s Social Democratic-led opposition looks set to form a minority government after a surge in support for the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats prevented either side from winning a majority.

The three-party opposition is poised to win 44.8 percent, versus 39.7 percent for the four-party government of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, according to an exit poll by state broadcaster SVT. The Sweden Democrats won support from 10.5 percent. Voting ended at 8 p.m. Stockholm time.

The result, if borne out by the final count, marks an end to eight years of rule by Reinfeldt’s conservative-led coalition, which has cut taxes and scaled back some benefits programs. The Social Democrats and their allies say the measures have eroded Sweden’s welfare system, arguing the policies failed to tackle Scandinavia’s highest unemployment.

“It’s time to vote for a change,” Social Democratic leader Stefan Loefven said before casting his ballot today in Stockholm. “We have high unemployment, we have deteriorating school results, we have cracks in our welfare and that also what means that change is needed in Swedish politics.”

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Let's hope the Feminist Initiative gets representation

Last edited Sun Sep 14, 2014, 06:48 PM - Edit history (1)

The Feminist Initiative, which has said it will back the opposition, was backed by 4 percent.

In order to restrict the number of parties which win seats in the Riksdag, a threshold has been put in place. In order to win seats in the Riksdag, a party must win at least four percent of the vote nationally, or twelve percent of the vote in any electoral constituency.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_Sweden#Seat_allocation

And let's also hope the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats keep the pariah status the article says they have, and the right refuses to ally with them.

Update: damn. From the addition to the OP:

A small feminist party that an exit poll suggested could enter Parliament failed to reach the 4 percent threshold, finishing with 3.1 percent, the official results showed.

and the bragging by the anti-immigrant party of how they hold the balance of power is worrying.

[bikebloke]

2. Reinfeldt is a buddy of Karl Rove.

They were using the migrants as a lever to dismantle Sweden's social policies. Glad to see them ushered out. Only they probably created a hard right block.

[CJCRANE]

15. Conservative policies invariably make the problems worse

that they claim to fight.

I think it's a built in feature of con politicians that they want stuff to complain about and that will pit people against each other.

They don't actually want to solve any problems because they'd have nothing to complain about or use to divide people.

[Dont call me Shirley]

3. Swedes have come to their senses.

Time to get Rove and like-minded out of politics and power, period.

[FlatStanley]

4. Please do not comprimise on any legislative initiatives.

[RufusTFirefly]

5. And now, a massage from the Swedish prime minister...

[PeoViejo]

6. Rove's little Social Enineering project comes to an end.

[Chasstev365]

7. An Aside Here

Has anyone notice how much Rove and Mark David Chapman look alike? Very Creepy!

[father founding]

8. Jesus, where art thee

They both claim to have found Jesus, although I think Jesus is hiding from them.

[saidsimplesimon]

9. What

“It’s time to vote for a change,” Social Democratic leader Stefan Loefven said before casting his ballot today in Stockholm. “We have high unemployment, we have deteriorating school results, we have cracks in our welfare and that also what means that change is needed in Swedish politics.”

[Fred Sanders]

10. Welfare is not a dirty word, it is the goal of democracy that all fare well.

[alcibiades_mystery]

11. Ta-ta, Tuttle

[pampango]

12. In Sweden, big left turn but far right, anti-immigration party soars

Swedish voters have turned away from the centre-right Alliance coalition of Fredrik Reinfeldt after eight years, and Social Democrats leader Stefan Lofven says he is prepared to form a government with other parties on the left.

The far-right, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats have become the country's third largest party with close to 13% of the vote but Mr Lofven has insisted he will not look to them to help form a government. Sweden receives more asylum applications per capita than any other European country, and recently offered permanent residency to all Syrians fleeing the war there. The Swedish Democrats are the only party which opposes the country's immigration policy, and Sunday's result more than doubled their seats in parliament to 49. They first entered parliament in 2010.

The Sweden Democrats survived a string of scandals in the run-up to the election, including the publication of a picture of a party official wearing a Nazi symbol. Many of their election rallies were met with mass demonstrations, and took place with a heavy police presence.

The Social Democrats say they want to raise taxes on business to boost spending on education, jobs creation and welfare. But with a minority in parliament, and faced with a stronger than ever Sweden Democrats, the incoming government faces an uphill battle. "The welfare state has a very strong standing in Swedish public opinion," said Ulf Bjereld.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29201660

While almost 13% of Swedes voted for the anti-immigration party, the good news is that 87% of Swedes did not. Sweden does have a very liberal immigration, and even more liberal refugee program, which apparently sets off some.

[cascadiance]

13. With the anti-immigration party gaining influence, might it be harder to be "Welcome to Sweden"

... for some of us Americans who are fed up enough with the growing wealth gap and oligarchic system we have that we need to jump ship?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3463606/

[pampango]

16. Perhaps but it's the only party that wants to change Sweden's immigration policy.

Maybe the far-right knows what it's doing. They promote an oligarchical system with a growing wealth gap in one country while hoping that the far right in other countries tighten up their liberal immigration laws so that there is no where for us to go.

[davidpdx]

14. One of my two Swedish friends on Facebook was talking about the election

It will be interesting to see what changes come as a result of the shift in power.

[pampango]

17. Sweden winner (Social Democrats) reiterates no far-right pact

Left-wing party leader faces tough task of forming new government after pledging not to cooperate with Sweden Democrats.

Swedish Social Democrat leader Stefan Lofven has said that he will try to form a new government after election win on Sunday but will not work with a far-right party which wants to slash immigration.

Lofven is expected to explore the possibility of a coalition involving the Greens and perhaps the former communist Left Party, based on an election that left him with a narrow win but gave no clear mandate to either side of the 349-member parliament.

The anti-immigration far-right Sweden Democrats celebrated large gains as the party won 12.9 percent of votes cast - more than doubling the 5.7 percent of votes won in the 2010 election.

With no majority reached, a complicated process of forming a government is expected as the centre-left pledged not to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats. The outgoing coalition has made the same promise.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2014/09/sweden-winner-reiterates-no-far-right-pact-201491513426719855.html