Politics
Political parties are strong in Sweden, with members of the Riksdag usually supporting their parties in parliamentary votes. In most cases, governments can command the support of the majority in the Riksdag, allowing the government to control the parliamentary agenda.
For many years, no single political party in Sweden has managed to gain more than 50% of the votes, so political parties with similar agendas cooperate on several issues, forming coalition governments or other formalized alliances. Currently, two major blocs exist in parliament, the socialist/green Red-Greens and the conservative/liberal Alliance for Sweden. The latter, consisting of the Moderate Party, the Liberal People's Party, the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats, governs Sweden since 2006 - since 2010 through a minority government. The Red-Greens were disbanded on 26 October 2010 but is still considered to be the main opposition. The Sweden Democrats party is not a member of any of these blocs, although they often support the Alliance in their decisions according to Tidningarnas Telegrambyrå, TT.
| Parties1 | Leaders | Seats2 | Votes3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Democratic Party | Stefan Löfven4 | 112 | 30.66% | |
| Moderate Party | Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt | 107 | 30.06% | |
| Green Party | Åsa Romson and Gustav Fridolin | 25 | 7.34% | |
| Liberal People's Party | Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Education Jan Björklund | 24 | 7.06% | |
| Center Party | Minister for Enterprise Annie Lööf | 23 | 6.56% | |
| Sweden Democrats | Jimmie Åkesson | 20 | 5.70% | |
| Christian Democratic Party | Minister for Health and Social Affairs Göran Hägglund | 19 | 5.60% | |
| Left Party | Jonas Sjöstedt | 19 | 5.60% | |
| Total | 349 | 98.58% | ||
| Government Minority | 2 | 0.02% | ||
Read more about this topic: Riksdag
Famous quotes containing the word politics:
“The average Kentuckian may appear a bit confused in his knowledge of history, but he is firmly certain about current politics. Kentucky cannot claim first place in political importance, but it tops the list in its keen enjoyment of politics for its own sake. It takes the average Kentuckian only a matter of moments to dispose of the weather and personal helath, but he never tires of a political discussion.”
—For the State of Kentucky, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The politics of the exile are fever,
revenge, daydream,
theater of the aging convalescent.
You wait in the wings and rehearse.
You wait and wait.”
—Marge Piercy (b. 1936)
“The rage for road building is beneficent for America, where vast distance is so main a consideration in our domestic politics and trade, inasmuch as the great political promise of the invention is to hold the Union staunch, whose days already seem numbered by the mere inconvenience of transporting representatives, judges and officers across such tedious distances of land and water.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)