Correspondents' Correspondence Swedish Uncertainty
KELMAN, STEVEN
coirespondents' Corresgonaence BRIEF TAKEOUTS OF MORE THAN PERSONAL INTEREST FROM LETTERS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED BY THE EDITORS. Swedish Uncertainty Cambridge—This is an election year...
...Unveiled by the unions before the 1976 election, this calls for the gradual union takeover of the shareholding majority of the large Swedish companies...
...True, the SD —together with the Communists—still had a secure lead over the non-Socialist parties, but it was no longer a landslide...
...The three groups had from the beginning been split over the future of Sweden's nuclear power program, one of Europe's most ambitious...
...The coalition hardly had time to get settled in office before the economy—which had survived the worldwide recession in 1974-75 with hardly a scratch—took a nosedive...
...Finally, last October the coalition fell over the issue, and was replaced by a minority Liberal Party government...
...Since then, the trend has continued—to a point where the non-Socialists, for the first time since early 1977, have pulled even with the SD and Communists...
...Although the economic crisis was certainly not the Administration's fault, voters blame governments for financial bad tidings...
...Swedish industries continue to face long-term problems, but it is difficult to know if this is because they are in trouble worldwide, or because of alleged disincentive effects (SD tax policies, for instance) at home...
...economy in order and restoring the popular identification of the party with economic prosperity—an important basis of the many years of SD rule.—Steven Kelman...
...In the month after the Liberals took office, the Social Democrats dropped a dramatic four points in the polls...
...Accordingly, the new government's standing in the opinion polls promptly plummeted...
...In 1976, the country's three non-Socialist parties took power from Sweden's Social Democrats (SD) for the first time in nearly 45 years...
...The Social Democrats, moreover, continue to be plagued by the unpopularity of the "wage-earner fund" (formerly dubbed the "Meidner plan," after its author...
...A funny thing happened on the way to the formality, however...
...To the surprise of many, the outcome is not easily predictable...
...The Center Party, outpost of environmentalism and the largest bloc in the coalition, opposed nuclear plants, while the Liberals and Moderates (conservatives) supported them, as did the SD...
...The election this September will determine whether the period of non-Socialist rule was a stormy parenthesis, or the beginning of a new period of political instability in Sweden...
...Swedish Uncertainty Cambridge—This is an election year in Sweden...
...In any case, the economy is growing again and exports seem to be picking up-even though the budget deficit is very high and the non-Socialist parties have not really succeeded in lowering taxes...
...It appeared that the September 1979 elections would be strictly a formality: An opinion poll showed that the Social Democrats would be returned to power by a convincing majority...
...The current government, of course, is quite weak...
...Serious voices proclaimed that prosperity was a thing of the past...
...If, on the other hand, the Social Democrats return, they will have a hard time getting th...
...For years, "strong government"—one that would be able to reach united decisions and not be crippled by dissension—has been a major theme of SD election propaganda, tapping strong elements of Swedish tradition...
...Yet, an SD journalist suggested to me, its very weakness may be attracting support from some elements of the electorate who have come to prefer a government that won't pass too many laws or do too much...
...The Social Democrats are trying to figure out why the situation has changed so drastically...
...If the non-Socialists retain power, this will probably inaugurate a real period of soul-searching within the SD, and perhaps new attitudes among various interest groups, such as greater aggressiveness by the business community...
...Crises and bankruptcy threats in the important shipbuilding, steel and timber industries made headlines almost daily, and within months a deep gloom settled over Sweden...
...Enjoying no parliamentary majority (indeed, the Liberals are the smallest of the four major parties in Parliament), the administration is forced to reach agreements with other parties to get any measures through the legislature...
...Socialist strategists have suggested that some Left-liberal middle class voters, on the borderline between the Social Democrats and the Liberals, have moved over to the Liberals now, both because the party is no longer in coalition with the Conservatives, and out of fear that the Social Democrats would socialize the economy...
...For years the SD had predicted that if the non-Socialists came to power, economic disaster would befall the land and internal splits would paralyze the government...
...One poll even puts them slightly ahead...
...Last but not least, the worst days of economic doom-and-gloom seem to be over...
...The non-Socialist parties' second major problem was self-inflicted, though...
...Both had now occurred...
...The result was a series of compromises, with the Center Party giving in on some points, but with most questions—whether or not to approve new nuclear reactors and budget requests for further construction—being put off...
Vol. 62 • April 1979 • No. 8
