Election Guide 2002 - Sweden.se

Swedish
Election Guide
2002
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Editor: Press and Information Department,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Translation: Roger Tanner, Ordväxling AB
Form & Layout: Press and Information Department,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Illustration: Tomas Lindell
Print: Edita Norstedts Tryckeri AB,
Stockholm 2002
ISBN 91-7496-291-4
Artikelnummer UD 02.059
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Additional copies may be ordered from:
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press Centre for foreign correspondents
SE-103 39 Stockholm
Tel. +46-8-405 10 00
Fax: +46-8-405 58 16

Contents
Foreword.............................................................5
The Swedish political system....................................7
Historical background........................................7
Governments, 1932-2002..................................7
How the system works today.................................9
Parliamentary elections since 1973...................11
Local government............................................13
The mechanics of the election system......................15
The right to vote................................................15
Eligibility..........................................................15
The status of political parties in electoral legislation.15
Voting...............................................................16
Counting the votes............................................16
Constituencies and distribution of seats..............16
Registration of a party’s name............................18
Personalised votes...........................................18
The Parliamentary parties introduce themselves.......19
The Centre Party...............................................20
The Christian Democratic Party...........................30
The Green Party................................................42
The Left Party....................................................54
The Liberal Party...............................................64
The Moderate Party...........................................74
The Social Democratic Party..............................86
Contact information..............................................96
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Foreword
The 2002 Swedish Election Guide, published by the
Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs together with the
parliamentary political parties, sets out to convey a
general picture of the Swedish political and electoral
system and to introduce the programmes of the political
parties.
Other contents comprise a list of useful addresses and
phone numbers and a list of party representatives who
can assist in arranging various contacts with the political
parties.
The Press Centre for foreign correspondents in Sweden,
which, together with the Information Service, forms part
of the Press and Information Department of the Ministry
for Foreign Affairs, provides service to foreign correspondents
in Sweden and visiting journalists. The Information
Service is in general charge of public information
concerning the Ministry’s activities.
We hope that this Election Guide will assist you in your
coverage of the 2002 Swedish elections.
Gösta Grassman
Press Centre
Arne Kallin
Information Service
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The Swedish
political system
Historical background
In 1809 Sweden adopted a written constitution which
was modern for its time, based on Montesquieu’s
political theory of the separation of powers. In 1866 the
Riksdag (parliament) of four estates (nobility, clergy,
burghers and peasants) was replaced by a bicameral
assembly. The Second Chamber was directly elected by
male voters who met rather restrictive property
requirements, the First Chamber by various local
government bodies.
As Sweden underwent rapid industrialisation late in
the 19th century, workers organised themselves into
trade unions and formed the Social Democratic Party.
In a joint campaign with the Liberal Party lasting for
more than a generation, they demanded the introduction
of equal voting rights for all adults.
Following a series of partial electoral reforms before
World War I, universal suffrage became a reality around
1920. By this time, a gradual evolution had also produced
a modern political party system and a parliamentary
system of government.
A new written constitution was introduced by stages
during the first half of the1970s. It created a unicameral
Riksdag, elected directly by all Swedes aged 18 or over.
The Riksdag has 349 members, who serve four-year
terms as from 1994. The previous electoral term was
three years. Eligibility presupposes Swedish citizenship
and the attainment of voting age (18 since 1976).
Governments, 1932-2002
Between 1932 and 1976 the Social Democrats were in
office continuously, except for an interregnum of 100
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days in 1936, and their successive party chairmen served
as Prime Ministers: Per Albin Hansson until his death
in 1946, Tage Erlander from 1946 until his retirement
in 1969, and Olof Palme as his successor.
Between 1933 and 1936, the Social Democrats had a
working agreement with the Agrarians (now the Centre
Party). Coalition governments of Social Democrats and
Agrarians were in power in 1936-1939 and 1951-1957.
During World War II, all parties except the Communists
took part in a grand coalition government. From 1945-
1951 and 1957-1976, the Social Democrats held office
alone.
In the 1976 election, the three non-socialist parties
together won an 11-seat majority in the Riksdag. The
Social Democratic government resigned and was
replaced by a coalition made up of the Centre Party, the
Moderate Party and the Liberal Party. The Chairman of
the Centre Party, Thorbjörn Fälldin, became Prime
Minister. After two years in office, this coalition
government was succeeded by a Liberal Party minority
government headed by the party’s chairman, Ola Ullsten.
In the 1979 election, the non-socialist parties together
kept their majority of parliamentary seats by the
narrowest possible margin (175 out of 349). A new threeparty
coalition government was formed, again headed
by Mr Fälldin. In the spring of 1981, the Moderate Party
resigned from the government.
In the 1982 election, the non-socialist parties lost
their majority. The Centre Party Liberal Party coalition
government resigned and was succeeded by a Social
Democratic minority government (based on 166
parliamentary seats) with Olof Palme as Prime Minister.
This government remained in office after the general
election in 1985. Olof Palme was assassinated in February
1986 and was succeeded as Party Chairman and Prime
Minister by Ingvar Carlsson. In 1988 Ingvar Carlsson formed
a minority government (with 156 seats out of 349).
In 1991 the non-socialist parties polled more votes
than the socialists and a four-party coalition was formed
by the Moderates, Liberals, Centre Party and Christian
Democrats, with Moderate Party Chairman Carl Bildt
as Prime Minister.
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After the general election in 1994, the Social
Democrats returned to power (with 161 seats out of
349) and formed a new government with Ingvar Carlsson
as Prime Minister. In March 1996 Ingvar Carlsson
resigned and was succeeded by Göran Persson, the new
chairman of the Social Democratic Party.
In the 1998 election, the foundations of the government
were weakened. Nevertheless, the Persson Government
remained in power (with 131 seats out of 349) and cooperated
with the Left Party and the Green Party in the
Riksdag.
How the system works today
Proportional representation
Parliamentary elections employ a system of proportional
representation designed to ensure a distribution of seats
among the parties in proportion to the votes cast for
them nationally.
Proportional fairness is not primarily achieved in each
constituency but in the whole country regarded as a
single constituency. Hence, in addition to 310 fixed
constituency seats, 39 seats are distributed at large so
as to obtain a fair, nationally proportional result.
However, the at-large seats are also filled by candidates
from the parties’ regular electoral lists.
There is one exception to the rule of complete
national proportionality: a quota rule intended to
prevent very small parties from gaining representation
in the Riksdag. A party must thus receive at least 4% of
the national popular vote to qualify for any seats. In any
one constituency, however, a party can gain a seat by
obtaining 12% of the votes, even if its national popular
vote falls short of 4%.
Dissolution of the Riksdag
The government has the right to dissolve the Riksdag
and call an extraordinary election between the ordinary,
regularly scheduled elections. However, the mandate of
an extraordinary election is valid only for the remaining
portion of the regular parliamentary term of office. No
extra election has been held in Sweden since the current
constitution came into force in 1975.
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Referendums
The constitution permits popular referendums in two
different cases. The first is that the Riksdag may enact a
law under which a consultative (non-binding)
referendum is to be held. Only five such referendums
have taken place. The latest was held in 1994 and
concerned the Swedish membership of the European
Union. In 1979 the constitution was amended so that
decisive (binding) referendums may be held on
amendments to the constitution. One-third of the MPs
can bring about such a referendum, which must then be
held simultaneously with the general elections. As yet,
no such referendum has taken place.
Subsidies to parties
Since 1966, state subsidies have been paid to every
political party which has a significant electoral
following. They are paid in the form of “party subsidies”
and “secretariat subsidies”.
A party is eligible for a party subsidy if it has gained
at least one seat in the Riksdag or 2.5% of the votes
throughout the whole country at either of the last two
elections. To qualify for secretariat subsidies, a party is
required either to have won a seat in the Riksdag in the
last election or have received at least 4% of the votes in
the whole country in the last election.
The size of the subsidies is related to party strength.
Secretariat subsidies, including basic subsidies and
additional subsidies per seat, are larger for opposition
parties than for parties represented in the government.
No conditions are attached to the subsidies, nor is there
any public audit of their expenditure.
At regional and local levels there are subsidies similar
to those paid by the state to the national party organisations.
Party district organisations thus receive funds from the
county councils, and their municipal organisations
receive subsidies from the municipal councils.
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The political parties
The seven parties currently represented in the Riksdag are:
v The Centre Party
(Centerpartiet, c)
v The Christian Democratic Party
(Kristdemokraterna, kd)
v The Green Party
(Miljöpartiet, mp)
v The Left Party
(Vänsterpartiet, v)
v The Liberal Party
(Folkpartiet Liberalerna, fp)
v The Moderate Party
(Moderata Samlingspartiet, m)
v The Social Democratic Party
(Socialdemokratiska Arbetarepartiet, usually shortened
to Socialdemokraterna, s)
An eighth party, New Democracy (Ny Demokrati, nyd),
was represented in the Riksdag during the 1991-94 term.
Parliamentary elections since 1973
Voter turnout in Sweden is traditionally very high, about
90%, which is roughly 10% higher than in any
comparable West European country. At the parliamentary
elections in 1991 and 1994, turnout was about 87%. In
1998, however, it was about 81%.
The 1973 election resulted in a hung Riksdag, with
the socialist and non-socialist blocs gaining 175 seats
each. Some matters now had to be decided by the drawing
of lots. Therefore a representation reform was passed,
reducing the number of seats from 350 to 349.
A change of government occurred in 1976, when the
non-socialists polled more votes than the socialists. This
victory was repeated in 1979, by the smallest possible
margin of one seat. 1982 brought another change of
government, however, with the socialist bloc in the
ascendant. Despite a reduction of their following, the
Social Democrats remained in office until 1991, when
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a four-party non-socialist coalition government took over.
The Moderates steadily increased their electoral
following from 1973 until 1985, when they lost ground,
a trend which continued in 1988. A recovery came in
1991, when the party polled 21.9% of the votes cast, and
in 1994 they attracted 22.4% of the votes. In 1998 the
Moderates polled 22.9%.
The Liberals’ following in 1973, 1976 and 1979 was
about 10%, falling to 5.9% in 1982. 1985 brought a
remarkable upsurge, to 14.2%, but since then the party has
lost ground steadily, polling 7.2% in 1994 and 4.7% in 1998.
The Centre Party’s following rose in 1973 from 19.9%
to 25.1%, which is the largest percentage scored by any
non-socialist party in post-war history. Support has
dwindled since then, however. In 1994 the Centre Party
polled 7.7% and in 1998 5.1%.
The Christian Democratic Party has been struggling
to surmount the 4% representation threshold since 1964.
A split ticket with the Centre Party in 1985 gave Party
Chairman Alf Svensson a seat in the Riksdag. The party
gained considerable ground in 1991, polling 7.1% of the
votes cast, but this fell to 4.1% in 1994. In 1998 the
party’s voting score rose to 11.8%.
The Social Democrats’ following was relatively stable
between 1973 and 1988, bottoming out at 42.7% in 1976
and peaking at 45.6% in 1982. In 1991 the Social Democrats
lost many voters, polling less than 40% for the first time
since 1945, but in 1994 they raised this to 45.3%. In 1998
the Social Democrats lost many voters and polled 36.4%.
The Left Party also had a fairly stable following
between 1973 and 1988. Polling between 5 and 6% of
the votes cast, it has not been seriously threatened by
the 4% threshold. The party lost votes in 1991, however,
and its voting score of 4.5% was the lowest on record
since 1968. In 1994 it recovered ground, gaining 6.2%
of the votes, rising in 1998 to 12%.
The Green Party entered the Riksdag in 1988 with
5.5% of the votes cast but in 1991, with only 3.4%, fell
victim to the 4% rule. It re-entered the Riksdag after the
1994 election, at which it polled 5%. In 1998 the Green
Party polled 4.5%.
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Local government
Swedish democracy is based on an interplay between
state (central government), regional and municipal
agencies and elected bodies.
In each of Sweden’s counties there is a county
administrative board which serves as the regional branch
of the central government and is headed by a county
governor who is a government appointee. The other 14
board members are appointed by the county council,
which in turn is elected by the voters of that county.
Sweden has 18 county councils, two regions, and one
municipality with no county council, Gotland. Health
care and medical services make up roughly 80% of their
activities. But they have a number of other duties as well,
e.g. certain forms of education and, together with the
municipalities in each county, the running of public
transport.
Sweden is currently divided into 289 municipalities
which cover the entire country; there are thus no
“unincorporated areas”. The decision-making body in
each of these districts is an elected municipal council.
The main responsibilities of such councils are the school
system, social welfare services, city planning, housing
supply, cultural service, sports and recreation, heat and
electricity.
Since 1970, elections to the unicameral Riksdag, the
county councils and the municipal councils are held
simultaneously.
In the county council elections, only parties receiving
at least 3% of the vote may take part in the proportional
distribution of seats (compared with 4% in the Riksdag).
In the municipal councils, no such minimum rule exists,
and a number of small or purely local parties thus have seats.
Since 1976, immigrants who have lived in Sweden
for at least three years have been entitled to vote in
municipal and county council elections and have also
been entitled to stand for election themselves.
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The mechanics
of the election system
General elections to the Riksdag are held every fourth
year (as from 1994) on the third Sunday in September,
as are the county and municipal council elections. 349
MPs are returned in the Riksdag election.
The Swedish constitution provides for the dissolution
of the Riksdag between general elections. This entails
holding interim period elections. No such elections have
taken place since the current constitution came into
force in 1975.
The right to vote
All Swedish citizens who are currently residing in
Sweden and who are at least 18 years of age on election
day are entitled to vote in the Riksdag election. The same
applies to most Swedes living abroad. Foreign citizens
can vote in county and municipal council elections, if
they are of at least three years’(registered) residential
standing.
Eligibility
If you are eligible to vote, you are eligible to be elected
as an MP. A prospective MP does not need to reside in
the constituency where he or she stands for election. A
residential qualification does apply, however, to
candidates in county and municipal elections.
The status of political parties in
electoral legislation
The political parties are mentioned in the constitution
and electoral law. However, legislation regulating their
activities is practically non-existent. They are not
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equired to give advance notice of participation in an
election. No law governs their nomination procedure.
They do receive financial aid from the state, but are not
obliged to render an account of how the funds are spent.
Voting
Most voting takes place at polling stations or post offices.
Polling stations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on
election day. In connection with the elections, large
numbers of temporary post offices are set up in hospitals,
old people’s homes, prisons and other institutions where
the inmates cannot vote at a polling station. Voting by
proxy is allowed in certain cases. Postal voting is
relatively wide-spread in Sweden.
Voters vote for a political party, but can also cast a
personal vote by marking the name of a particular
candidate on the ballot paper. The voter is free to indicate
his or her personal choice of candidate, or to accept the
party’s ranking and vote only for the party. A personal
choice may only be indicated for one candidate.
Counting the votes
Votes are counted in several stages, starting with a
preliminary count at the polling stations after they close
on election day. The preliminary results of parliamentary
elections are usually known fairly early in the
evening, but these only tell us how many seats each
particular party has won, not the names of the individual
successful candidates. The definitive count is made by
the County Administrative Boards.
Constituencies and distribution of seats
For parliamentary elections, Sweden is divided into 29
constituencies, commanding between 2 and 35 seats. For
county council elections, the counties are also divided
into constituencies. Regulations for the elections of
municipal councils state that, in certain cases, municipalities
too must be divided into constituencies.
Parliamentary, county and municipal council elections
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are proportional. In the event of deviations from a
proportionally correct result in connection with the
allocation of seats in constituencies, a contingency
arrangement of equalising seats applies to both
parliamentary and county council elections. In parliamentary
elections, there are 310 fixed constituency seats
and 39 equalising seats to be divided between the parties.
First the fixed constituency seats are allocated, on the
basis of the election results in the constituency concerned.
An estimate is then made of how the 349 seats would
be allocated if the entire country was regarded as one
single constituency. The difference between the number
of seats a party would then get and the number of fixed
constituency seats it has actually won is made up by
means of equalising seats.
In county council elections, nine-tenths of the seats
are fixed constituency seats and the remainder equalising
seats. For these elections, the bar on small parties has
been set at 3%.
There are no equalising seats in municipalities which
are subdivided into constituencies. There is no formal
bar for small parties. In subdivided municipalities, however,
the division into constituencies can have significant
blocking effect on the small parties.
Seats are distributed between parties by the “oddfigure”
transferable vote method, with the first divisor
set at 1.4. Under this method a seat is awarded, in a
certain order of preference, to the party with the highest
comparative ratio in each round. The first comparative
ratio is the number of votes divided by 1.4. Having the
first divisor greater than 1 makes it more difficult for a
party to gain its first seat. This, therefore, can be termed
a bar to small parties. The subsequent comparative ratios
are obtained by dividing the number of votes won by a
party with the figure corresponding to twice the number
of seats allotted to that party plus 1 – that is, 3, 5, 7 and
so on. This method is used when allocated both the fixed
constituency seats and the equalising seats. Where the
latter are concerned, however, a modification comes into
play whereby, in a constituency where the party has not
been allotted a fixed constituency seat, the comparative
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atio in connection with the first equalising seat equals
the number of votes polled by the party. In other words,
an odd-figure method is used. This reduces the risk of a
party being completely unrepresented in a constituency.
Registration of a party’s name
A party can have its name registered. Rules on this
subject exist to prevent abuses of party names and are
not in any way part of the nomination procedure.
Party names are registered by the Election Authority.
Protection of a party’s name is linked with the possibility
of submitting the names of the candidates to the Election
Authority before the election. A party must submit a
certain number of election candidates in order to
safeguard its registered party name during an election.
Personalised votes
Once the allocation of seats between the parties has been
settled, it remains to work out which candidate or
candidates will occupy them.
Members of the Riksdag are selected primarily on the
strength of votes cast for them personally. The
personalised vote score is the number of personalised
votes cast for a particular candidate in a particular
constituency. In order to be returned on the strength of
personalised votes, the candidate must have gained such
votes equalling at least 8% of the party vote in the
constituency.
If two or more candidates have surmounted this
barrier, they will be returned in the order of their
personalised vote scores.
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The Parliamentary parties
introduce themselves
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The Centre Party
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Centerpartiet
“If there is one thing uniting all Centre Party
members from Smygehuk in the south to
Treriksröset in the far north, it is the campaign
for equal conditions. The indefatigable
campaign for every person’s every family’s
every region’s right to be directly responsible.”
Photo: Lars Trangius

Maud Olofsson
Maud Olofsson has been Chairman of the
Centre Party since March 2001, quickly
establishing herself as a well-known,
popular politician with a personal mission
in politics.
Maud is 45 years old and lives in
Bygdeå, Robertsfors, in Norrbotten in the
far north of Sweden. Among other things,
she is a former Managing Director of the
Västerbotten Agricultural Society.
Her personal commitment stems to a
great extent from the experience of living
away from the capital city which tends to
be the focal point of political debate. She
is driven among other things by an
awareness of the different and unfair conditions
in which many people are having to
live, both in the countryside and in city
suburbs.
Maud’s election as Party Chairman also
gave an additional fillip to the party’s
efforts in the cause of gender equality. As
a non-socialist feminist, Maud takes a
vigorous personal interest in questions
concerning women’s opportunities and
enterprise.
Leisure, and above experience of quality
of life, is essential in order to cope with
the task of leading a political party.
Nearness to the forest and the possibility
of cooking and eating with the family are
vital components for combining private life
with political duties.
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In this year’s election Maud will be
standing both in her home county of
Västerbotten and in the new home area,
Stockholm, where she spends and has
spent a great deal of time in various roles.
Standing for election in two places at once
is her own decision, based on a determination
to represent both village and city.
For this reason she has declined nomination
in any other constituencies.
The Centre Party – a green, middle-of-the-road
non-socialist party
The Centre Party is a green, middle-of-the-road nonsocialist
party affiliated to the European Liberal,
Democratic and Reformist Party (ELDR). The party was
formed in the 1920s to defend the interests of the rural
population against monopoly capitalism and unfair
imposts by the national government. From the 1950s
and 1960s onwards the party broadened its base,
becoming the abode of the “green wave” which opposed
the destruction of environment and the concentration
of governmental and private power, demanding a
strengthening of local democracy. The Centre party
remains strongest in the countryside and small urban
communities.
Since the 1970s, when the Centre Party was the
leading non-socialist party and headed Sweden’s first
non-socialist administration in 40 years, it has slowly
lost ground in the parliamentary elections. The opinion
polls rapidly took a new turn, however, following the
election of Maud Olofsson to chair the party in March
2001. The good prospects of election success for
September 2002 were confirmed, for example, by the
school elections in April, which was won by the Centre
Party and Social Democrats together.

The Centre Party is an opposition party intent on
becoming part of a new, non-socialist four-party government
after the election in 2002.
Stop social and regional cleavage!
In putting an end to the social and regional cleavage of
Sweden the Centre Party sees one of its most important
challenges. The depopulation of the countryside, small
communities and the forest counties accelerated during
the 90s. This exodus causes great problems by weakening
the population base for services, cultural amenities and
communications, but the other side of the coin is equally
serious. The rapid growth of population in Stockholm
is aggravating a severe housing shortage, causing serious
traffic congestion and environmental problems and
posing a threat of building development to parks and
green areas. Whereas unemployment remains high in
Norrland, the Stockholm region is in danger of economic
overheating. The social cleavage is perhaps above all
manifested by the profound segregation of “old” and
“new” Swedes. But an increasing social and regional
cleavage is also apparent as regards the explosion of illhealth
and prolonged unemployment.
Equal conditions!
The Centre Party’s watchword in this election is “Equal
Conditions”. For town and country, for women and men,
for old and new Swedes, for private and public
alternatives in the public sector, for rich and poor
communities, and for pupils in school. This is a
watchword combining the aim of creating equal
conditions with the aim of increased liberty and selfdetermination
for individuals, families and local
communities. It takes issue with the Social Democrats
and the Left Party, who will not accept different
outcomes and local and individual solutions. But it is
also in stark contrast to the Moderates’ lack of social
pathos and ambition. It is also a watchword which clearly
affirms universal equality of rights and dignity,
regardless of sex, ethnic origin, sexual orientation,
residential locality or age.
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Equal conditions are a prerequisite for achieving the
Centre Party’s prime objectives of viability, quality of
life and self-determination. Equal conditions and greater
self-determination for the citizen mean a better outlet
for people’s commitment and creativity. This is good
for society and social cohesion, it helps to improve
economic growth, but above all it gives people a far better
chance of achieving quality of life.
The main election issues for the Centre Party
1. Growth and new jobs through more numerous,
expanding small firms
Together with the other non-socialist parties, we have
presented a 53-point enterprise report which would
radically transform the climate for start-ups and small
businesses. Questions to which the Centre Party attaches
particular importance are less taxation of small
businesses, simpler and fewer rules, a good infrastructure
everywhere in the country, and better social conditions
for small entrepreneurs. Another 300,000 jobs will be
needed in the enterprise sector for the future financing
of present-day welfare. Entrepreneurial growth is also
a prerequisite of improved regional balance.
Women’s enterprise is a key issue for breaking the
gender segregation of the labour market. This calls for
an active national policy, including advisory services and
improved venture capital supply for women entrepreneurs.
One partial target for the next few years is for 40% of
all new businesses to be started by women.
2. Stop the acceleration of illness
Ill-health in working life is one of the major threats to
quality of life and welfare in Sweden. The cost of sickness
absence, output losses, reduced quality and impaired
working conditions in the public sector is lowering the
quality of life and impeding growth. The Centre Party
wants, for example, to employ health insurance resources
offensively by means of “permanent financial coordination”,
among other things with a rehabilitation
guarantee and a care guarantee to ensure that people
return to working life more swiftly.
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The crux of dealing with ill-health at work is the
achievement of a healthy, child-friendly working life.
This requires people to be given more influence over the
organisation and timetabling of their work, in the public
sector not least, as well as the possibility of changing
their working hours to suit different phases in their lives.
Employers must be encouraged by positive means to
improve safety and health conditions – the work
environment.
3. Lower taxation of low and normal incomes
The Centre Party is the party which, next to the Moderates,
wishes to introduce the biggest tax reductions in the years
ahead. Unlike the other parties, though, our income tax
proposal is clearly focused on people in the low and
middle income brackets. Our aim is to make these groups
less dependent on handouts and to increase their selfdetermination.
This is also a way of overcoming the
poverty trap in which many low-income earners find
themselves, with increased earnings leading to a
corresponding reduction of social and housing allowances.
We want to introduce a universal tax reduction of SEK
10,000 and a tax reduction of up to SEK 10,800 on
earned income for all employees.
4. An individualised school system
The Centre Party wants to change the school system so
that education will be designed according to the pupils’
differing needs. Each pupil is to have an individual study
plan, to be followed up continuously. The duration of
schooling can then be made to vary according to the time
it takes for the pupil to meet the minimum requirements
for pass marks. We also represent freedom of choice and
scope for independent schools.
Getting all children off to a good start is the most
important contribution the school system has to make.
For this reason the Centre Party gives more priority to
compulsory schooling and early initiatives than to
attempts at putting things right later on.
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5. Equal development opportunities everywhere in the
country
The Centre Party wants to improve people’s
opportunities of living and working everywhere in the
country, partly by means of efficient communications,
such as roads, railways, air transport and digital
communications. Fair conditions for the whole country
must also include access to higher education and
research in partnership with local business undertakings.
People are obviously entitled to live where they please,
but the countryside must be able to offer conditions
which make it an attractive place to live in. For this
reason, initiatives to develop cultural amenities for all
ages, as well as the availability of schools and other basic
amenities, are essential in order to halt the depopulation
of large parts of Sweden.
The Centre Party position
on other important election issues
1. The Centre Party is in favour of free choice and
private alternatives in the public sector, while
safeguarding funding solidarity. Private employers
are often better for the personnel than public ones,
and can both benefit the equality of women and
men and help to reduce the high level of ill-health
in the public sector. Greater diversity of employers
in the caring sector will make this job market more
like others, for example as regards career prospects,
start-up opportunities and pay development.
2. The Centre Party wishes to increase parental power
over the everyday life of the family by augmenting
the diversity of child care and strengthen family
finances so as to make it easier to combine
parenthood with economic activity.
3. National government finances. The Centre Party
strongly opposes a renewal of state borrowing. The
budgetary deficit must be reduced, which also
means that tax reductions are to be financed
independently of dynamic effects.
26

4. The environment and energy. The Centre Party is
a non-socialist environmentalist party. We have
reached an agreement with the government whereby
nuclear power is to be phased out. The Centre Party
wishes to solve the environmental problems of
transport through heavy commitment to alternate
fuels.
5. The EU/EMU. The Centre Party endorses Sweden’s
EU membership but wishes to reform the Union
in favour of better democracy. The EU’s main
question for the future is the completion of eastward
expansion according to plan. The Centre Party does
not consider EMU membership desirable at
present.
6. Foreign policy and development co-operation. The
Centre Party wants gradually to raise development
assistance to 1 % of GDI. What is no less important
for the development of the poor countries is a
liberalisation of the EU’s trade policy and efforts
to achieve fair trade. Heavier demands will have
to be made on the industrialised nations than on
the developing countries.
7. Improved democracy must be achieved primarily
through local efforts, e.g. through referenda and user
influence. Local self-government is a kingpin of
living democracy. The Centre Party therefore wishes
to reduce detailed state control of municipal
activities. Municipal tax equalisation is necessary
to ensure equal chances of good schooling, health
care and other caring services throughout the
country.
8. Gender equality and diversity issues. Gender
equality calls among other things for efforts to
overcome the segregation of the sexes in the
Swedish labour market, to achieve a broader labour
market and to improve career opportunities and
pay development for women in the public sector,
e.g. by admitting private and alternative providers
to schools, health care and caring services. The
27

28
Centre Party endorses the Riksdag resolution last
spring to include homosexuals in the constitutional
safeguard against incitement to collective hatred
(“racial agitation”), and the decision to abolish
discrimination against homosexuals applying to
adopt children.
9. Immigration policy and anti-segregation measures.
The Centre Party takes the view that Sweden must
have a generous refugee policy, based on the UN
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The
segregation and exclusion experienced by so many
immigrants represent both a human tragedy and a
waste of socio-economic resources. Efforts to
counteract segregation must essentially involve
opening up the labour market, improving conditions
for new businesses and reforming language instruction
for immigrants.

Names and addresses
Party Headquarters
Centerpartiet
Box 2200
SE-103 15 Stockholm
Visiting address: Stora Nygatan 4
Tel: +46-8-617 38 00
Fax: +46-8-617 38 10
E-mail: centerpartiet@centerpartiet.se
www.centerpartiet.se
Party Chairman
Maud Olofsson
Tel:+46-8-786 44 66
Head of Public Relations
Lena Andersson
Tel:+46-8-617 38 31
Mobile +46-70-326 15 03
Fax: +46-8-617 38 10
E-mail: lena.andersson@centerpartiet.se
Press Secretary
Johan Hammarqvist
Tel:+46-8-786 43 90
Mobile: +46-70-326 15 02
Fax: +46-8-10 84 69
E-mail: johan.hammarqvist@centerpartiet.se
29

The Christian Democratic Party
30
Kristdemokraterna
“Sweden needs a change in office – a new
government which gives individuals and
families a free choice, which safeguards the
child’s perspective and rests its policy on the
ethic which creates the best prospects of a
more secure national and international
tomorrow.”
Photo: Kristdemokraterna

Alf Svensson
Alf Svensson has been Chairman of the
Christian Democrats since January 1973,
which makes him the “longest” party chairman
in Swedish political history.
Born in 1938, Alf Svensson is married to
Sonja and they have three grown-up
children: Pamela, Alexander and Michaela.
Mrs and Mr Svensson live in Gränna.
Before becoming party chairman, Alf
Svensson taught Swedish and History in
high school. He has been a member of the
Christian Democratic Party ever since it
was founded in 1964. He helped to found
the party’s youth organisation, KDU, in
1966, and was its chairman from 1970
until 1973.
Alf Svensson has served as municipal
councillor, first in Gränna and then in
Jönköping, and he has also been a
Jönköping county councillor.
Alf Svensson first entered the Riksdag
in 1985, through the party’s electoral cooperation
with the Centre Party. In 1991,
when the party entered the Riksdag under
its own steam with 7.1 per cent of the
votes, Alf Svensson became an MP but
was then appointed Minister for Development
Co-operation and Human Rights and
Deputy Foreign Minister (1991-1994). He
returned to parliamentary duties after the
change of government in 1994.
Outside politics, Alf Svensson is specially
keen on outdoor activity, poetry and prose
31

32
and, of course, bandy. He has been Chairman
of the Jönköping branch of the National
Defence Society since 1992. In 1993 he
became one of the Vice-Chairmen of the
EUCD (European Union of Christian
Democrats), the European joint organisation
of Christian Democratic parties, which in
turn is affiliated to the Christian Democratic
International, CDI.
In 1996 Alf Svensson was awarded the
Telia Prize for public speaking.
Alf Svensson is the author of three
books: I Tiden – Från motvind till uppvindar
(1984). Poletik (1990) and Här kommer
Alf Svensson (2001).
History
The Party was formed in 1964 as the Christian
Democratic Coalition Party (KDS). Its first chairman
was Birger Ekstedt. Following his death in 1972, Alf
Svensson was elected Party Chairman in January 1973,
an appointment which he still holds.
The party’s electoral following was relatively modest
for many years, fluctuating between 1.4 and 1.9% between
1964 and 1982. In the 1985 election the party entered
into electoral co-operation with the Centre Party,
polling 2.6% within the electoral cartel and gaining one
seat in the Riksdag. Alf Svensson was elected. The
electoral co-operation ended before the 1988 election,
when the party polled 2.9% and failed to enter the
Riksdag. The 1991 election proved to be a breakthrough,
with the Christian Democrats polling 7.1% of
the votes, gaining 26 seats in the Riksdag and taking office

together with the Centre Party, Liberal Party and the
Moderates. The Christian Democrats had three
ministerial appointments: Party Chairman Alf Svensson
became Minister for International Co-operation and
Deputy Foreign Minister, Inger Davidson became
Minister of Public Administration and Mats Odell
became Minister of Transport and Communications. In
the 1994 election the party polled 4.1% of the votes,
gained 15 seats and once again found itself in opposition.
In 1987 the party thoroughly revised its programme,
at the same time changing its name to the Christian
Democratic Party (KdS). In 1993 the programme was
again completely revised and the party acquired a
programme of principle. A further change of name, to
Kristdemokraterna (also translated “Christian Democrats”
but abbreviated kd) took place in 1996.
There is a long tradition of co-operation between the
Christian Democratic parties of the Nordic countries
(not including Iceland). This has been established on a
formal basis since 1992. A “Nordic summer meeting” –
a kind of congress of the Nordic parties – takes place
every two years, and meetings of senior party members
are held at least once every year.
The party has been affiliated to the Christian
Democratic International since 1984 and to its
European organisation, EUCD. In 1995, until the
European Parliamentary election, the party was also
represented in the European Parliament, where it had
one seat. As a result of Sweden joining the EU, the
Christian Democrats also became members of the EPP,
which is an association of Christian Democratic parties
within the EU. Certain conservative MEPs and certain
liberal-conservative parties, such as the Swedish
Moderates, also belong to the EPP. In the 1995 European
Parliamentary elections, the party polled 3.9% of the
votes, which was not sufficient to give it any seats in
the European Parliament, since the 4% rule also applies
in these elections.
In addition to the party itself, the Christian Democratic
movement in Sweden consists of a women’s organisation,
a youth organisation and a senior federation. The party
33

has about 24,000 members and organisationally consists
of 27 party districts and 359 local branches. In the 1994
election the party returned 15 MPs, 58 county
councillors and 425 municipal councillors.
Party Chairman: Alf Svensson, Gränna
First Deputy Chairman: Inger Davidson, Nacka
Second Deputy Chairman: Anders Andersson, Järnforsen
Secretary-General: Sven Gunnar Persson, Kumla
Parliamentary Group Leader: Göran Hägglund, Bankeryd
The Party Board has 18 permanent members.
A party of values and ideas
The Christian Democrats are a party of values and ideas.
The value-oriented vision of society can be described
as follows: a realistic and sustainable view of humanity,
subscribed to by members of society, creates the best
possible chances of achieving a good society.
The Christian Democrats represent a personalistic
view of humanity, inspired above all by the cultural
tradition of Christianity. Man’s personal dignity is
founded on belief in the inviolability of human life, in
the equal worth of all human beings and in each individual
as a unique being having a unique value. Fellow human
beings, therefore, cannot be treated merely as objects of
different kinds of intervention.
The realisation of man’s imperfection has a number
of political effects. These include the need for power
sharing in society, humility regarding one’s own political
achievement and, accordingly, understanding for other
political parties. Compromise is regarded as a part of
everyday politics, the direction of political work is based
on the philosophy of small steps, and the direction of
movement is important. Most important, perhaps, is the
conclusion that there will never be any such thing as
perfect societies or perfect political systems. We reject
utopianism.
Fundamental to Christian Democrats is the vision
of small communities. It is in the small communities that
34

we build society and it is in the small, closely-knit
communities that people develop and grow as human
beings. The most important community is the family.
Within the small group constituted by the family, its
members can receive love, consideration and understanding,
but they also have to meet demands and take
responsibility. In this way the family as a community
relates to man’s profoundest need – the need to be seen,
to be a person who is not interchangeable. The same
mentality underlies the vision of the importance of other
small communities for a good society. There is a clear
divide here in relation to the individual fixation of
liberalism and in relation to the socialist view that the
individual can only be realised as a mass being.
The stewardship concept means that man has a
responsibility – responsibility for his own personal
resources and the way they are used. And responsibility
both towards other people and for the material
environment and natural resources. Stewardship means
using and pre-serving. Everything we do today affects
both the present and posterity. Ruthless exploitation is
contrary to the stewardship principle.
Another important ideological principle for the
Christian Democrats is that of subsidiarity. That
principle is a working tool. Basically it means that a
community shall be entitled to manage whatever it can
manage in an appropriate manner. And the superior
communities (the state, for example) are duty bound to
support the subordinate communities where necessary.
That support must respect the rights of individual
people and the communities’ own sphere of competence.
The Christian Democrats are a non-confessional
political party. Even though the Christian cultural
tradition is the fundamental source of inspiration for
Christian Democratic values, political activity is
founded on the value base itself. These values can, in
principle, be accepted by everyone, regardless of creed.
Everyone sharing the view of humanity which the
Christian Democrats represent is welcome to join in the
task of furthering common basic values.
35

Important topics for the 2002 election
Shortage of time is our society’s big problem. There is
not enough time for our children, our relatives and our
fellow human beings. Only too often, there is not enough
time for the teacher to spend on the pupil who lags
behind or for the nurse to do that little extra service
which raises the quality of care. Nor is there time for
looking after ourselves, for reflecting on how we ought
to live, or for the everyday contact between parents and
children which is so important for the transmission of
norms and values.
We Christian Democrats are standing for election in
2002 so as to do everything in our power – in municipalities,
county councils/regions and the Riksdag – to create a
gentler, more secure society. This calls for a policy which
will provide more scope for the family, the individual
and the communities of which they form part. At the
same time, support and help to people who are socially
and economically disadvantaged must be improved and
efforts to achieve a better living environment and
international solidarity must be intensified.
The Christian Democrats wish to point out the following
areas of vital importance for a more secure society:
Ethics and values which stand the test of time
If children do not, at a very tender age, develop a sense
of right and wrong, making up for this later on in life
will be very difficult. A new crime prevention strategy
is needed, one which employs information, systematically
and in the long term, to make parents, school staff and
others working with children aware of the importance
of value transmission and of the necessity of reinforcing
children’s inner control.
Courts, prosecutors, the police and the prison and
probation system need to be given greater resources in
order to improve security, prevent crime and help
criminals to go straight. The courts must be located close
to citizens and be widely distributed throughout the
country. Community policing must be expanded, and
the target must be at least one community police officer
per thousand residents.
36

Special attention must be paid to the vulnerable
situation of girls. Battered wives and their children must
be given adequate support. NGOs, such as women’s
refuges, must be given sufficient financial resources to
be able to work properly.
More time for the children
Support for child care must be based on the conviction
that parents know best what sort of child care their
children need. The task of the state and municipality is
to support parents in the decisions they make. Child care,
however provided, must be of high quality.
In many places the maximum limit on child care
charges (maxtaxan) has increased the size of day nursery
groups. Priority must now be given to facilitating smaller
groups in pre-school education, so that the children can
feel secure and the staff will have time to look after them.
The guarantee level of parental insurance must be
raised. Parental education and family counselling for
everyone wanting them. A right of three years’ leave of
absence for child care should be introduced. A childfriendly
working life must be created, in which both fathers
and mothers have the possibility of reducing their working
hours when the children are small and can afford to do so.
Time for dignity in caring services
More efficient methods of treatment and new medicines
are not the whole secret of quality in caring services.
Without sufficient time there can be neither quality nor
dignity. Freedom of choice, better utilisation of financial
resources but also more money are needed in order to
achieve dignified caring services.
There must be a care guarantee which confers the right
to treatment or surgery within three months. A security
guarantee is needed, resting on three pillars: a care
guarantee, ensuring availability, a dignity guarantee,
ensuring respectful treatment, and a housing and assistive
devices guarantee which includes the right to support
and service.
The shortage of doctors, nurses and other caring staff
must be dealt with. This can be done by providing more
37

training capacity, better working conditions and higher
pay, for example by increasing the number of care
providers and career paths.
A school which sees all its children in time
High quality of schooling depends on teachers and other
school staff having time for their pupils. The number of
children per adult in pre-school education and school
has increased as a result of the spending cuts of the 1990s.
More adults are needed so as to create smaller groups
and make more time for addressing the needs of each
individual child. If the staff have more time to look at
each individual, bullying, truancy and disruptive
environments in schools and pre-school education can
be combated.
The right to choose a school is an obvious democratic
principle in a pluralistic society. Independent schools,
therefore, must have their natural place in the school
system and be given support equivalent to that received
by municipal schools.
A modern apprenticeship system will be established,
in which theory alternates with on-the-job learning
throughout the training period and in close partnership
with local business enterprise. Completion of upper
secondary school studies shall be an available option up
to age 25.
The future demands growing businesses
and a flourishing economy
A dynamic entrepreneur climate of diversity and
competitive strength gives people’s entrepreneurship
and ideas the chance of blossoming and bringing the
whole of Sweden to life. The framing of enterprise policy
must be shaped by the conditions and needs of small and
medium-sized enterprises. Our neglected infrastructure
must be upgraded.
One basic precondition of a human market economy
is the maintenance of gender equality and of norms such
as honesty and personal assumption of responsibility.
The role of the state and the EU as supervisors, judges
and norm-creators for the establishment of good ethics
in the economic sphere is of the utmost importance.
38

For the reduction of ill-health in working life,
preventive work must be intensified. Working life and
working hours must be adapted to people’s differing
needs and circumstances at different stages of life.
No one working full time shall have to depend on
handouts. Nor shall anyone need to pay more than 50 %
of a pay rise in tax. The ground for business activity and
enterprise should be improved by reducing taxes on
labour and enterprise. The rules governing business
enterprise must be simplified. Wealth tax must be phased
out, as must the absurdity of double taxation. Property
tax must be abolished and a low municipal property
charge can be introduced instead so as to encourage
municipalities to build homes and improve the climate
for enterprise within their boundaries.
An environment and agriculture for the future
We human beings are stewards of our habitat. Measures
must be taken to reduce Sweden’s carbon dioxide
emissions over the next few years. Nuclear power must
not be abolished in such a way that emissions from coalfired
and oil-fired power stations are allowed to increase.
The taxation system must be designed so as to make
the market economy a positive force in efforts to create
a humane living environment nation-wide. Environmental
crime must be vigorously combated, partly through
stricter penalties and longer limitation periods.
Agriculture and fisheries are the life blood of the
countryside and archipelago. Swedish farmers must be
enabled to compete on the same terms as their colleagues
in our neighbouring countries.
A new age demands international solidarity
Taking time to care about one’s fellow human beings is
an expression of solidarity, based on the Christian
Democratic view of human dignity and human rights.
Nearly a billion people are living in extreme poverty.
The cure for poverty is free trade, democracy, development
assistance and international co-operation.
39

40
Names and addresses
Party Headquarters
Kristdemokraterna
Box 3337, SE-103 67 Stockholm
Visiting address: Målargatan 7
Tel: (switchboard): +46-8-723 25 00
Fax: +46-8-723 25 10
E-mail: brev.till@kristdemokrat.se
www.kristdemokrat.se
Secretary General:
Sven Gunnar Persson
Tel: +46-8-723 25 01
Mobile: +46-70-510 48 57
Deputy Secretary General:
Andreas Sturesson
Tel: +46-8-723 25 03
Mobile: +46-730-600 600
Information Manager:
PG Lundberg
Tel: +46-8-723 25 18
Mobile: +46-70-627 99 88
Parliamentary Office
Kristdemokraternas riksdagskansli
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Mynttorget 2
Tel: (switchboard): +46-8-786 40 00
Party Chairman:
Alf Svensson
Tel: +46-8-786 50 11
Group Leader:
Göran Hägglund
Tel: +46-8-786 46 32
Administrative Director:
Jonas Rydberg
Tel: +46-8-786 56 78
Mobile: +46-70-674 24 98
Press Officer:
Niclas Brantingsson
Tel: +46-8-786 56 80
Mobile: +46-70-595 81 51

The Green Party
42
Miljöpartiet
Maria Wetterstrand: ”The suvival of mankind
depends on a healthy environment. Another world
is not only possible, it is vital.”
Peter Eriksson: ”Green politics is revolutionary,
because it has a different perspective. We want to
empower people to be able to change their lives,
as well as to take responsibility for our common
future.”
Photo: Mikael Thörnqvist

Maria Wetterstrand
Maria Wetterstrand, 28 (born 1973).
Member of Parliament, Committee on
Environment and Agriculture, former
spokeswoman of the Green Youth 1996-
99. Special interests: environment, food
safety, consumer rights, WTO, sustainable
development, human rights.
Peter Eriksson
Peter Eriksson, 43 (born 1959).
Chairman of the Kalix Municipal Council
(Northern Sweden), former Member of
Parliament. Special interests: direct
democracy, citizens’ participation, constitution
& constitutional rights, law &
legislation.
43

History
The Green Party, “Miljöpartiet de Gröna,” was founded
in 1981, largely as a reaction to growing concern about
environmental problems and a lack of political will to
solve them. The Green Party took part in the general
elections of 1982 and 1985, not until 1988 did it poll
more than the 4% of the votes required for representation
in the Riksdag. The Green Party then gained 5.5% of the
votes and became the first new party to enter the Riksdag
in 70 years. In 1991, the Green Party obtained only 3.4%
of the votes and was consequently forced out of the
Riksdag. However, a well-planned campaign in 1994
brought the party back to the Riksdag with 5% of the
votes and in 1995, the Green Party attained 17.2% in
the Swedish elections to the European Parliament. In the
1998 elections, the Swedish Greens lost 0.5% (from
5.0% to 4.5%), but gained political power.
Organisation
The Green Party is organised on three independent
political levels – municipal, regional and national. The
party’s supreme policy-making body is the annual party
congress. In between congresses, a 21-member party
board runs the party and manages general affairs. The
party is represented by two equal spokespersons, a man
and a woman. The Green Youth (Grön Ungdom) is the
party’s youth organisation. Quotas are applied for the
promotion of equality between women and men. In
accordance with the Green Party’s statutes, the party’s
bodies include at least 40% of each sex.
International contacts
The Green Party is a member of the European Federation
of Green Parties (European Greens), which represents
green parties throughout Europe. Today, the European
Greens include 32 green parties in 29 European
countries. The European Greens Federation facilitates
communication between member parties, green parlia-
44

mentarians and ministers, co-ordinates green European
policy and supports small green parties in order to
strengthen the green political movement in Europe as a
whole. A Green Baltic Sea Network has been set up
within the European Greens for co-operation on energy,
the Baltic Sea environment, traffic and EU enlargement.
The European Greens is one of the Founding Federations
of the Global Greens. The Global Greens is the network
of green parties and green political movements from
Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Europe and the Americas. Green
parties from more than 70 countries took part in the first
Global Greens Congress in Canberra, in April 2001.
Manifesto for the Children 2002
Green Election Manifesto for the Future
The politics of the Green Party are based on a fourfold
solidarity:
v solidarity with animals, the nature and the ecosystem,
v solidarity with future generations,
v solidarity with the peoples of the world,
v solidarity with people in our own country.
We have fresh ideas and question the current societal
structure. We therefore challenge many strong forces that
use people and the environment for short-term economic
profit. The current development of society is a dead end.
Both our common environment and we human beings
are worn down. Stress in society affects the ecological
system, as well as ourselves and our children . The policy
of the Green Party offers a way out of stress, ill-health,
over-consumption and pollution. Our aim is a society
in balance with nature, where everybody’s resources and
opportunities are made use of.
The Green Party is part of a growing international
green movement. Our roots can be found in the popular
movements involved in environmental issues, animal
rights, ill-health, anti-discrimination, global solidarity
and peace. We focus on the quality of life! We believe in
the future and the prospects of change. A parliamentary
45

election must address more than just money matters.
Someone has to stand for long-term quality of life, and
also take responsibility for those who do not have a voice
in the market. We care about animals and nature, future
generations and the people of Sweden and the world. We
represent a green, future-oriented philosophy for the
entire political field. Green politics go beyond left-wing/
right-wing politics. They combine the dream of great
freedom for the individual with far-reaching solidarity
as far as the distribution of resources is concerned. This
combination is a part of the hallmark of the green
movement.
During the coming years, we want to work for:
v a transition focusing on the needs of the children
and the right to time for care and love,
v a transition focusing on the right of our children
and grandchildren to a sustainable environment,
v a transition strengthening people’s right to control
their own time,
v a transition focusing on everybody’s right to
participate in the democratic development of
society.
38 steps for a greener future
1. Prolonged parental leave –
increased number of months intended for the father
Children and parents need more time for each other. We
want to prolong parental leave to 18 months and increase
the number of months intended for the father.
2. Smaller groups in pre-school
There must be fewer children in pre-school groups. The
children’s environment should be made a priority.
3. Quality requirements for schools
and equal economic conditions
Smaller classes, more adults among the staff and increased
power for the students. The National Agency for Education
should be provided with enough resources for continuous
46

quality control in all schools, both municipal and
independent.
4. Make it easier to study
Students with children have great difficulties in making
ends meet. Therefore, we want to reintroduce a child
supplement. As a step towards student salaries and in
order to decrease the social bias of university recruitment,
we want to go on increasing the grant portion of postsecondary
study assistance.
5. Introduce the option of a year off nationwide
The opportunity to take a year off from work means an
opportunity to do something new and different with
your life. A chance to take a year off and be reimbursed
out of unemployment insurance, provided that someone
who is unemployed stands in for you.
6. Reduce working hours to 35 per week
We want to create time for other things than paid work.
Therefore, we want to change the legislation and make
35 hours the regular working week by 2006 at the latest.
7. Action against discriminatory pay differentials
The wage level should be increased in occupations where
women predominate. Annual equality audits should be
carried out and reasons for gender-related pay
differentials should be analysed. Pay discrimination
proceedings should be transferred from the Labour Court
to common courts.
8. Counteracting ill-health in working life
Today, the state spends more on sick leave and early
retirement pensions than on health care and medical
services. We demand a more humane working life with
greater influence for the employees. More resources and
the right kind of structure are needed for the social
insurance offices, rehabilitation and training.
9. More money for health care
Investments must be made in preventive care and
alternative medicine. Psychiatric care for children and
young people needs more resources.
47

10. A high cost protection scheme for all in dental care
Dental status should not be a subject of class distinction.
We demand for dental care the same kind of high cost
protection scheme already existing in health care.
11. Shorter waiting times and better treatment
for refugees and asylum-seekers
Sweden today is not living up to the requirements
concerning decent and humane treatment of refugees and
should have a more generous refugee policy. The Geneva
Convention needs to be better observed. Residence
permits should be granted automatically if the waiting
time exceeds one year. Better treatment should be
accorded to refugees and asylum-seekers.
12. Improve the conditions for small enterprises
We want, among other things, to increase the right to
set off different sources of income against each other.
Today’s rules and fees favour large enterprises at the
expense of small ones.
13. A green favourable climate for trade and industry
We want to stimulate the development of modern
companies by cutting red tape and reducing difficulties.
Payroll tax should be decreased.
14. Homes for the homeless
In a civilised country like Sweden, it is unacceptable that
people are forced to be homeless. Building cheap
apartments is not enough. Targeted resources are
required for such things as social rehabilitation,
education and care.
15. More and better housing
It must be possible to build both cheap and ecologically
sound houses. A student housing guarantee should be
introduced.
16. Introduce a concession for people
in sparsely populated areas
For the preservation of services and quality of life
everywhere in Sweden, we want to safeguard people’s
opportunities of remaining and settling in sparsely
populated areas, partly by introducing a concession scheme.
48

17. Better terms for animals!
We demand that the newly established Animal Welfare
Authority be given the powers and resources to create
better ethics and rules for keeping animals. We also want
to ban fur farms, counteract long-distance carriage of
livestock and minimise the number of experiments on
animals.
18. Repair county roads and gravel roads
in sparsely populated areas
We want to make the improvement of minor roads a
priority, to guarantee that they can be used all the year
round, regardless of where you live in Sweden.
19. Invest in trains and railways
A modern and sustainable transport system requires a
huge portion of freight and passenger transport should
be transferred to railways. Passenger fares and freight
charges must be reduced. This is a key issue if we want
to lower CO 2 emissions and counteract the greenhouse
effect.
20. Introduce road charging in major cities
The queues of vehicles and the environmental problems
in our major cities cannot be solved by building new
traffic routes. With congestion charges, there will be less
crowding and more resources to improve public transport.
21. Increase the use of environmentally
preferable fuels
We require that rules and taxes promote environmentally
preferable fuels, in particular renewable ones.
22. Tougher legislation on chemicals
We require a quick phase-out of brominated flame
retardants – which for example can be found in computer
screens – less diffusion of heavy metals and a ban on azo
colours in food.
23. Lower VAT on organically produced food
What is environmentally sound and compatible with
long-term sustainable development should be cheap for
the consumers.
49

24. Good food
Everyone should be guaranteed access to food of high
quality, free from added poisonous substances. Both
Sweden’s and the European Union’s agricultural policy
must promote food that is organic, GMO-free and
locally produced.
25. Save the life of the oceans
The over-exploitation of fish stocks must stop. The cod
is virtually extinct in both the Baltic Sea and the North
Sea. All fishing must be stopped until stocks have
recovered. Trawl-fishing must be limited.
26. A green tax reform
Lower the taxes on labour – both income tax and payroll
tax – and increase the taxes on energy, raw material and
polluting emissions, also for aeroplanes and ships.
27. Phase out nuclear power
and convert the energy system
We want to phase out nuclear energy, using economic
means of control, and improve the terms for renewable
energy, among other things by requiring energy companies
to sell more renewable energy. The Barsebäck nuclear
power plant should be shut down immediately.
28. A forceful reduction of military expenditures
and a phase-out of arms trading
The military defence is not adapted to today’s threats.
We disassociate ourselves from violence as a way of
solving conflicts. We want to start the transition from a
military defence to a civil one. We also require an
immediate end to all arms trading.
29. A fairer global economy
To counteract the unfair international order and global,
short-sighted capitalism, we demand that Sweden should
push for the agreements of the Word Trade Organisations
to be made subject to UN conventions on human rights
and environmental protection, and for the introduction
of an international tax on currency transactions (a socalled
Tobin Tax).
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30. Cancel Third World debts
and increase development assistance
Sweden must act vigorously, both at home and at
international level, for increased development assistance
and debt relief. As a first step, Sweden should increase
its development assistance to 1% of GNP.
31. Strengthen the work against discrimination
and racism
We want to unite the different laws on discrimination
into a single law on human rights. We want to establish
a national anti-racist centre and support local integration
centres.
32. Sex, power and gender
Efforts to break the traditional pattern of gender power
must be encouraged. Gender discrimination should also
be banned outside working life and in higher education.
33. Lowered voting age
We want to lower the voting age and the age qualification
for eligibility to 16 years.
34. Local binding referenda
More referenda will give citizens more opportunities of
influence and will strengthen democracy.
35. More power to the municipalities
We do not want any more restrictions on municipal selfgovernment.
We want to work for more resources to be
given to the municipalities, in order for them to assume
responsibility for schools and care.
36. Stop the constitutional amendment
on the European Union!
We say No to the proposed constitutional amendment
whereby the government will be allowed to hand over
power to the EU without any prior decisions in the
Riksdag.
37. No to the EMU
Swedish crowns – yes! Euro – no! We can handle
democracy, welfare and jobs better outside the EMU.
51

38. Sweden out of the European Union!
Safeguard democracy and freedom from alliances.
International co-operation is needed instead of superpower
projects.
The choice is not between the right and the left. There
is another way: A green and long-term sustainable one.
This way goes neither right nor left, but forward, beyond
short-sighted, humdrum routine. It is up to the voters
to decide.
52

Names and addresses
National Office & Party Board
Green Party Sweden
Box 2136
SE-10314 Stockholm
Visiting address: Prästgatan 18A
Tel: +46-8-545 224 50
Fax: +46-8-545 224 51
www.mp.se
Spokeswoman, MP
Maria Wetterstrand
Mobile: +46-73-701 45 45
E-mail: maria.wetterstrand@riksdagen.se
Spokesman
Peter Eriksson
Mobile: +46-70-524 87 76
E-mail: peter.eriksson@kalix.se
Party Secretary
Håkan Wåhlstedt
Mobile: +46-70-664 33 50
E-mail: hakan.wahlstedt@mp.se
Green Group in the Riksdag
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Mynttorget 2
Tel: (switchboard) +46-8-786 40 00
Fax: +46-8-786 53 75
Political Advisor on EU/Foreign Affairs
Ursula Mueller
Tel: +46-8-786 57 44
E-mail: ursula.muller@riksdagen.se
Green Youth Association
Box 1244
SE-221 05 Lund
Tel: +46-46-14 01 02
Fax: +46-46-18 49 63
E-mail: gu@mp.se
www.gu.mp.se
53

The Left Party
54
Vänsterpartiet
“The election is about the kind of society we
are to have, whether we are to equalise
differences and reduce gaps in society or
accentuate them. We stand for a policy based
on solidarity and justice.
That is what the Left Party is for.”
Photo: Carl Johan Erikson

Gudrun Schyman
Gudrun Schyman is one of two women
party leaders in Sweden. She was elected
Chairman at the 1993 Party Congress.
Gudrun, aged 54, was born in Täby, a
suburb of Stockholm. She became
interested in party politics in 1977, when
she moved to Skåne, the southernmost
province in Sweden. There she devoted
her time to environmental issues, energy
and peace and also women’s questions.
She was a municipal councillor in a small
town in Skåne, Simrishamn, between
1980 and 1987 and served on the town’s
social welfare committee between 1982
and 1987. She has two children who were
born during her Simrishamn years.
Gudrun was elected to the Party Executive
in 1981 and to its Executive Committee
in 1984. She became an MP in 1984.
Gudrun Schyman’s background differs
from those of the other leading politicians.
She has also had first-hand experience of
life as a low-paid single mother. She
combines this experience with an ardent
interest in politics and a determination to
bring about social change.
Unlike many other leaders of political
parties, she had many years’ experience
of working life, partly as a social worker,
before entering politics full time. She has
combined her duties as a party leader with
the role of single mother to her children.
55

The Left Party
The Left Party is a socialist and feminist party rooted
in the Swedish labour movement. Founded in 1917, it
was originally called the Social Democratic Left Party
of Sweden. In the 1998 election the party polled 12% of
the votes, which made it the third biggest party in Sweden.
Today the party has about 14,000 members.
Since the last election, the Left Party has co-operated
with the Social Democrats and the Green Party in the
Riksdag. We have had an influence in many municipalities
and county councils. Our aim has been to move policy
to the left. We have achieved a great deal but we are not
satisfied. We feel that a new left majority must follow a
much more radical policy than hitherto. This calls for a
stronger Left Party.
Gudrun Schyman has been Chairman of the Party
since 1993. Its Vice-Chairman is Johan Lönnroth, and
Pernilla Zethraeus is the Party Secretary.
Unlike the other parliamentary political parties, the
Left Party defends the classical values of the labour
movement, namely worker policy and socialism. Our
policy has four cornerstones:
v socialism,
v feminism,
v sustainable development,
v international solidarity.
Jobs for all
To the Left Party, universal employment is superior to
all other political objectives. More jobs must be created,
in both the public and the private sectors. We want to
give more money to labour market policy and to provide
schools and caring services with wider scope for recruiting
qualified personnel and improving rates of pay. We also
want to have swift and comprehensive action to improve
the working environment, and to counteract exclusion
and long-term sickness absence. We demand stricter
56

legislation requiring large corporations to assume greater
responsibility when closing down profitable production.
There are those who benefit from unemployment,
because it creates further class and gender differences.
High unemployment strengthens the position of
employers. Trade-union activity and justified demands
for fair pay, better health and safety at work and reasonable
working hours are made more difficult. Employers and
the owners of capital want to see a great deal of
competition for jobs, at the same time as there will be a
manpower reserve to be thrown into production during
boom periods. This is why the campaign for universal
employment is the main political task of the left.
A special struggle for women’s rights is needed
All over the world, Sweden included, women suffer
discrimination because of their sex. This is a fact which
is contrary to fundamental human rights. A long list
could be made of examples of women’s subordination.
Women manual workers are at the very bottom of the
pay scale. Changes and cutbacks in Sweden’s welfare
system have negative consequences for women’s opportunities
of independent living. Men’s violence to women,
pornography and prostitution are the tip of the iceberg
which conceals everyday phenomena below the surface.
Despite an ambitious policy of gender equality,
injustices between the sexes persist in one field after
another.
The unequal power relations between the sexes
permeate relations between women and men in all walks
of society and restrict women’s lives. This is why women
as a group also have a common interest which differs
from men’s.
The Left Party sees as its task the formulation of an
offensive policy based on this interest, and it regards
feminism as a policy for combating the special oppression
of women. As the election approaches, the Left Party
demands an action plan for raising women’s pay.
57

Six-hour working day
Ever since the labour movement organised itself to
campaign for suffrage and an eight-hour working day,
more than a hundred years ago, a struggle has been waged
concerning who is to benefit from the rationalisation
of production. The length and disposition of working
hours have played a vital part in efforts to reduce
employers’ power.
In recent years the pace of working life has
accelerated. More and more people are being sicklisted
because of over exertion and burnout. A reduction of
working hours can counteract this by improving the
quality of life. There will be time to spare for children,
leisure, trade-union and political activity and the
company of friends and relatives.
Employees must be given more say concerning their
working hours. By reducing the norm for full-time work,
at the same time as the disposition of working hours is
decided through negotiations between unions and
employers, we will achieve working time which is
adapted to people instead of the other way round.
The Left Party’s objective is a six-hour working day
with no reduction of pay.
A strong and democratically controlled
public sector
Private solutions mean that everyone is expected to
arrange their own pension finance, their own security
in the event of illness and unemployment and their own
children’s right to a good education and good-quality
child care. The bourgeois freedom of choice is fundamentally
false, because it makes freedom of choice a
commodity. When public activity is commercialised,
freedom of choice increases for those with plenty of
money but security and service are impaired for the
majority. Instead the Left Party wants to work for good
medical care, elderly care, education, child care, a fair
pension and health insurance for everybody. Alternative
forms of management can serve as an adjunct in the
public sector, but health care must never be driven by
58

profit considerations. The same goes for schools, preschool
education and elderly care. Cutbacks, coupled
with privatisation, have led to a deterioration of elderly
care. Staff, a majority of whom are women, are wearing
themselves out and sickness rates are skyrocketing. Now
more money and more employees are needed in
municipalities and county councils, to ensure quality,
reasonable rates of pay and good working conditions.
The people working in caring services and schools must
be able to influence the way in which their work is
organised and their activities develop. Deeper
democracy and participation are important, both for
employees and for users and citizens.
Fair environmental space
The Left Party maintains that infrastructure of vital
importance to the community – energy, utilities and
waterworks, for example – must be owned by the people
together and not operated solely on a profit-making
basis. The wastage of resources can be reduced through
a green taxation shift. Enforcement of environmental
and chemical legislation must be made much more
efficient. Penalties for environmental crimes should be
increased and it must be made easier to secure
convictions against those guilty of such crimes. The Left
Party is also working to achieve gender equality and
coherence in traffic policy. Public transport must be
expanded and transport operations transferred from
roads to railways and shipping.
Global justice
Global co-operation and international solidarity are
necessary if we are to overcome the enormous problems
facing the world today. There are more poor people and
more very rich people in the world than ever before. At
the same time there are resources which mean that
nobody should need to suffer poverty or starvation. The
problem concerns the distribution of those resources.
The Left Party takes the view that the indebtedness of
poor countries to the affluent world must be reduced
59

y writing off debts. Assistance from the affluent
countries to the poor of the world must be increased and
permeated by an equal opportunities perspective.
Sweden’s development assistance must be restored to
1% of GDI.
As a result of EU membership, governmental power
has grown at the expense of the Riksdag. We wish to
strengthen the role of the Riksdag. In practice, the EU is
about to be transformed into a heavily centralised federal
state. A left government must counteract that transformation,
working instead for the return of power from
the EU to the member states and for the EU’s
democratisation. We say No to membership of the
Economic and Monetary Union, EMU, and we take the
view that this question must be decided by a referendum.
Justice is possible
The Left Party is a socialist party. Our aim is a socialist
society in which universal human equality forms the
basis of an equitable social order and in which democracy
also includes power over the economy. The Left Party’s
work against capitalism is a dividing line between us and
all other parties. We stress the difference between right
and left and we say openly that not everyone benefits
from our policy.
The Left Party is also a feminist party working for a
society free from gender oppression in all its forms. This
means that women’s power must increase and that
politics must be based on women’s experience and
interests.
The election is about the kind of society we are to
have, whether we are to equalise differences and reduce
gaps in society or accentuate them. The Left Party stands
for a policy based on solidarity and justice.
60

Names and addresses
Party Headquarters
Vänsterpartiets partikansli
Box 126 60, SE-112 93 Stockholm
Visiting address: Kungsgatan 84
Tel: +46-8-654 08 20
Fax: +46-8-653 23 85
www.vansterpartiet.se
Riksdag Party Office
Vänsterpartiets riksdagskansli
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Mynttorget 1
Tel: +46-8-786 40 00
Fax: +46-8-21 33 53
Party Chairperson
Gudrun Schyman
Tel: +46-8-786 46 52
E-mail: gudrun.schyman@riksdagen.se
Party Vice Chairperson
Johan Lönnroth
Tel: +46-8-786 46 50
E-mail: johan.lonnroth@riksdagen.se
Party Secretary
Pernilla Zethraeus
Tel: +46-8-617 69 71,
Mobile: +46-70-325 49 74
E-mail: pernilla.zethraeus@vansterpartiet.se
Assistant Party Secretary
Bo Leinerdal
Tel: +46-8-627 69 70,
Mobile: +46-70-582 24 80
E-mail: bo.leinerdal@vansterpartiet.se
Press Secretary to Gudrun Schyman
Birger Östberg
Tel: +46-8-786 46 16,
Mobile: +46-70-234 64 84
E-mail: birger.ostberg@riksdagen.se
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62
Press Officer
Britta Kellgren
Tel: +46-8-786 46 14
E-mail: britta.kellgren@riksdagen.se
Head of Public Relations
Ann-Margarethe Livh,
Tel: +46-8-617 69 74,
Mobile: +46-70-582 24 81
E-mail: ann-margarethe.livh@vansterpartiet.se

The Liberal Party
64
Folkpartiet Liberalerna
“We have a vision of how politics should
create opportunities instead of obstacles. We
want to empower the individual. We want to
give people scope and opportunities for
growth. People are first and foremost not
what they have been but what they are
capable of becoming.”
Photo: Susanna Asklöf

Lars Leijonborg
Lars Leijonborg, 52, was born and raised
in Solna. In 1971 he was elected Chairman
of Liberal Youth, FPU, and in 1974
he graduated with a degree in social studies
and public administration.
Lars has been active as a politician,
journalist and consultant. He was Liberal
Party Secretary between 1980 and 1983,
Chief Editor of the liberal newspaper NU
in 1983-1984 and a consultant with
Svenska ManagementGruppen between
1984 and 1990.
Lars Leijonborg became an MP in 1985.
In 1990 he was elected Deputy Vice
Chairman of the Liberal Party, becoming
leader of the parliamentary party after the
1991 election. On 15th March 1997 he
was elected Liberal Party Chairman.
Lars Leijonborg has worked both politically
and professionally for the improvement of
the public sector. He has also taken an
active interest in education and media
affairs and was a prime mover in the
policy-making process which led to the
deregulation of radio broadcasting in
Sweden. He also took the initiative leading
to a constitutional reform with longer terms
of office and personal (preference) voting.
Lars Leijonborg is married to Lotta
Edholm, and they have a son, Axel (b.
1996). Lars Leijonborg also has a son,
Pontus (b. 1975), by a previous marriage.
65

History of the Liberal Party
In 1895 a radical liberal party was formed in the Lower
House of the Riksdag, the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet).
Five years later the liberals in the Lower House joined
forces with the Liberal Coalition Party. The National
Liberal Union, an national organisation co-operating
with the Liberal Coalition Party, was formed in 1902.
In 1923 the party divided on the issue of prohibition.
The present Liberal Party was formed in 1934 through
the merger of the two fractions and several smaller
groups. The Liberal Party traces its origin back to the
inaugural meeting of the liberal coalition in 1902 and,
accordingly, celebrates its centenary this year.
Party organisation
The supreme policy-making party of the Liberal Party
is the Party Congress, which meets every two years. The
Party Congress decides the focus of the party’s liberal
policy and elects the Party Executive which takes charge
of the party’s work and political activity between
congresses. The party leadership, elected by the Party
Executive, is accountable for day-to-day party political
work. Geographically the party is divided into 26 county
federations which support all its municipal and local
associations.
The Liberal Party has about 19,000 members. At the
1998 elections it polled 248,076 votes, which
corresponded to 4.7% of the voting population and gave
the party 17 seats (out of 349) in the Riksdag. The Liberal
Party is affiliated to the Liberal International.
Policy and ideology of the Liberal Party
Liberalism
Respect for the individual and the right of individual
persons to decide their own lives and preferences is the
absolute essence of liberalism. Accordingly, the Liberal
Party’s political proposals are aimed at increasing
people’s power over their lives, and giving each of us the
66

liberty and opportunity to try to make our dreams of
the good life come true. We believe in people’s common
sense and conscience. Politics must demolish barriers and
create opportunities, as opposed to controlling our lives.
Political decision-making can never replace personal
responsibility.
The classical liberal reforms, such as universal suffrage,
elementary schooling for all, the rule of law, freedom of
enterprise and basic pensions, can all be viewed in this
perspective. Politics must create opportunities, not
obstacles.
Liberalism means belief in a free economy, knowledge
and education, guaranteed public health service for all,
respect for the individual and internationalism.
This means, for example, that as liberals we:
v reject racism, prejudice, dictatorship,
v defend people’s right to choose their lifestyle, e.g.
to live with same sex partners,
v defend our liberty as citizens to choose, for example,
schools, doctors and day nurseries: those choices
are not to be made for us by the state.
The importance of education is another vital component
of the liberal ideology. This means, for example, that
liberals:
v regard universal education and knowledge as the
road to an equal society.
Internationalism is another of the basic liberal values.
This means, for example, that as liberals we:
v prefer free trade to trade barriers,
v advocate international co-operation and foreign aid
to poor countries.
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The following is the Liberal Party’s
election platform for 2002
and these are our most important political aims.
You must decide!
You yourself must be able to choose where to live, your
job, child care and schools, doctor and midwife, home
help services and senior housing, decide your working
hours and so on. You know best what is good for you
and for those who are near you.
Schools
v Devote more effort to teaching all children basic
skills in reading, writing and arithmatic early on
in compulsory school.
v Introduce a national school voucher.
v Adapt the duration of compulsory schooling to
each child’s needs.
v Improve the grading system and introduce it already
from grade 6.
v Introduce national achievement tests in grade 3, for
early identification of those in need of support.
v Improve economic conditions and give encouragement
for independent schools.
v Create a more effective learning environment in
our schools.
v Strengthen the protection of victims of bullying.
v Put staff with teaching qualifications in principal
charge of pre-school activities.
v Make the teaching profession attractive by means
of better pay and career opportunities.
v In upper secondary school, abolish the individual
programme and introduce three leaving certificates.
“The forgotten Sweden”
Caring services
v Introduce a health service guarantee immediately
- no one must need to wait more than 90 days for
treatment or surgery.
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v Introduce a health service voucher to strengthen
the ability of the individual to choose his or her
care provider.
v Allow financial co-ordination between social
insurance offices and health service nation-wide,
to reduce the long periods of sickness absence.
v Introduce family doctors for a continuity of
personal medical service and better access to care.
v Permit private health service, so as to achieve better
care, shorter waiting lists and better working
conditions for employees.
v Introduce legislation on the rights of the mentally ill.
v Reduce the age limit for the dental care cost ceiling
from the present 65 to 60.
v Abolish mandatory referral immediately.
v Draw up a national action plan against misuse of
prescripted medicin.
Elderly care
v Introduce an elderly care voucher to give older
persons more freedom of choice.
v Legislate against discrimination of the elderly.
v Establish an ombudsman for older persons in every
municipality, to strengthen the rights of the
individual.
v Persons in sheltered housing are entitled to single
occupancy if they want one.
v Increase the number of doctors and nurses servicing
houses for elderly.
v Introduce health service guarantee to ensure that
every municipality will offer dignified care and
attention to older persons in need of it.
v Introduce better financial support for care in the
home.
v Improve transport assistance services.
v Stop the reduction of widow’s pensions.
69

Disabled care
v Restore the right to personal assistance.
v Take steps to improve access and mobility of the
disabled, so that persons with functional impairment
can participate effectively in social and political
affairs.
v Introduce an assistive devices guarantee.
v Prohibit discrimination of the disabled.
v Improve transport services.
Public health
v Safeguard the liquor retailing monopoly, preserve
the age limit etc. so as to limit consumption of
alcohol.
v Improve the information provided in schools about
alcohol, narcotic drugs and tobacco, and improve
preventive activities aimed at reducing young
people’s drug use.
v Improve drug abuser care and augment its
admissions capacity.
v Introduce drug-free prisons. The police must also
be given special units to deal with drug issues.
v Give more money to the customs to stop drug
smuggling.
v Extend the drug abusers’ syringe exchange project
to include more communities in Sweden.
Equal opportunities - liberal feminism
v Give women the same power as men over their
lives. This calls for greater gender equality at work,
in business enterprise, in politics and in society
generally.
v Combat unfair rates of pay for women and abolish
pay discrimination.
v Abolish the monopoly in health service and schools,
so as to elevate the status of jobs where women
predominate.
v Support entreprenurial initiatives by women.
70

v Encourage mothers and fathers to share parental
leave between them.
v Reduce the taxation of domestically related
services.
v Intensify the fight against violence to women.
v Let parents themselves choose their own child care
arrangements and working hours.
v Raise parental insurance benefit rates.
Global solidarity
v Raise development assistance to 1% of GDP.
v Make gifts to international assistance tax-deductible.
v Strengthen the struggle for democracy, human
rights and greater gender equality in the context
of development co-operation.
v Improve freedom of trade between the countries
of the world.
v Support debt forgiveness for Third World countries,
conditional on democratic and economic reforms.
v Safeguard the right of asylum in Sweden and Europe
and give the term “refugee” a wider interpretation.
v Use a more humane refugee policy to counteract
refugee trafficking.
v Open up Sweden for labour immigration.
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72
Names and addresses
Party Headquarters
Folkpartiet
Box 6508
SE-113 83 Stockholm
Visiting address: Drottninggatan 97
Tel: +46 8 5091 1600
Fax: +46 8 5091 1660
E-mail: info@liberal.se
www.folkpartiet.se
Riksdag Party Office
Folkpartiets riksdagskansli
Riksdagen
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Myntorget 2
Tel: +46-8-786 40 00
Fax: +46-8-20 98 68
E-mail: folkpartiet@riksdagen.se
Party Secretary
Johan Pehrson
Tel: +46-8-786 46 34
E-mail: johan.pehrson@riksdagen.se
Assistant Party Secretary
Susann Torgerson
Tel: +46-8-5091 1616
E-mail: susann.torgerson@liberal.se
Campaign Manager
Eva-Lotta Nilson
Tel: +46-8-5091 1611
E-mail: eva-lotta.nilson@liberal.se
Press Relations
Niki Westerberg
Mobile: +46-70-937 15 25
E-mail: niki.westerberg@riksdagen.se

The Moderate Party
74
Moderaterna
“I want to be in government after this
autumn’s election. Not for the sake of
power, but for the sake of opportunities.
Not to run people’s lives for them, but
so that everyone will be able to order
their own lives as they please.”
Photo: Moderaterna/Ann Lindberg

Bo Lundgren
MP, Chairman of the Moderate Party of
Sweden, former Minister for Fiscal and
Financial Affairs
Born 11th July 11, 1947 in Kristianstad,
Sweden
B.Sc. in Business Administration, University
of Lund
Family
Wife Charlotte, née Hagren, son Henrik,
born 1997, and daughter Katarina, born
2000
Politics
Since his election to the Riksdag in 1976,
Bo Lundgren has mainly worked with
taxation and economic policy on the
committees on taxation and finance and
on several governmental committees. He
was deputy member of the Board of
Governors of the Swedish Central Bank
(the Riksbank) in the mid-eighties. In
1991, he was appointed Minister for
Fiscal and Financial Affairs, and as such
was responsible for bringing Sweden out
of the deep crisis in the financial sector
after the speculation bubble of the eighties.
After leaving government in 1994, Bo
Lundgren returned to the Riksdag and
became party spokesman on economic
affairs. In 1999, he was elected Chairman
of the Moderate Party, which is the main
opposition party in Sweden.
75

History
To begin with, our party was classically conservative
and nationalist. Liberal and internationalist ideas have
gradually gained ground. Today the Moderate Party’s
ideology is a combination of conservative social views
and liberal ideas. Its ideological stance is above all
characterised by conviction of the need for continuity,
the vision of the open society and belief in the individual
person’s freedom of choice.
Formation of the party
Right-wing and moderate groups had been formed in
both chambers of the Riksdag during the closing years
of the 19th century, but at the beginning of the 20th they
still lacked a nation-wide organisation for contacting
and informing the electorate.
The successes then gained by the Social Democrats
and Liberals in the elections to the Lower House of the
Riksdag were very much due to their having organised
themselves and thus been able to campaign more
effectively. (The Social Democratic Party had been
formed in 1889, the Liberal Coalition in 1902).
A group of right-wing MPs, led by Gustaf Fredrik
Östberg, took the initiative in forming a new party. This
took place at a meeting in Stockholm on 17th-18th
October 1904, and the party was dubbed the General
Voters’ Federation.
The main responsibility for building up the party
organisation devolved on Gustav Gustafsson, who was
really a newspaper man and had been Editor-in-Chief
of Östgöta Correspondenten.
International co-operation
The Moderate Party attaches very great importance to
international co-operation. It came out in favour of
Sweden joining the EEC (as the EU was then called)
already in 1961.
We co-operate with conservative, liberal and
Christian democratic parties from other countries
through the International Democrat Union (IDU) –
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chaired by Carl Bildt – and the European Democrat
Union (EDU). Following Sweden’s accession to the EU,
the party is also a member of the European People’s Party
(EPP). The five Moderate MEPs belong to the EPP group
in the European Parliament.
Election results
In Sweden’s first general election with universal male
and female suffrage, to the Lower House of the Riksdag
in 1921, the party polled 25.8% of the votes. The record
came in 1928, with 29.4% of the votes cast, and the
figure in 1970 was an all-time low, 11.6%. At the last
parliamentary election, in 1998, we polled 22.9%, and
in the European Parliament election in 1995 we polled
23.2%.
Changes of name
In 1938 the party changed its name from the General
Voters’ Federation to the National Organisation of the
Right, and from 1952 onwards it styled itself the Right
Party. We have been called the Moderate Party since 1969.
Growing success
The election victory of 1928 was followed by a long
period of electoral reverses, ending with the 1952
election, by which time Jarl Hjalmarson had become
Party Chairman. Hjalmarson’s time (1950-61) was one
of renewal in terms of both party policy and election
successes.
A basically conservative view coupled with determined
and ideological opposition of the planned economy ideas
of the post-war era found the party an important role
in the political developments of the 1950s. The party
put forward proposals which would enable people to be
independent and manage their own financial affairs.
“Ownership democracy” was the name given to the
party’s model for spreading ownership of business
enterprise to the general public, as distinct from the
Social Democratic policy of concentrating ownership.
The party protested against the successive increase
in the pressure of taxation begun by the Social Democratic
government during the 1950s.
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After the great election successes of the 1950s, the
1960s proved to be a new period of recession for the
party. By the end of the 1960s the Moderates were the
smallest non-socialist party in the Riksdag.
In 1970 Gösta Bohman was elected to succeed as Party
Chairman, and a new period of dynamism and election
success followed. In the 1979 election the Moderate
Party became the biggest of the non-socialist parties.
Non-socialist co-operation
During the 1960s the Right Party worked to being about
co-operation between the non-socialist parties, to create
a governmental alternative to the Social Democrats,
who, with only one very brief intermission, had ruled
Sweden since 1932. But it was not until the 1970s that
the three parties were able to agree on a political
alternative.
The non-socialist election victory of 1976 meant the
achievement of a long-standing aim: the long period of
Social Democratic rule had at last been broken. When
the leader of the Centre Party, Torbjörn Fälldin, formed
the first non-socialist coalition government, this was a
great victory for our party’s pursuit of non-socialist
unity.
Ideological offensive
During the 1970s and 1980s, the party sharpened its
ideological profile. Whereas previously it had been a
party resisting the Social Democrats’ policy of
nationalisation and central control, the party now
changed its emphasis. We became the party presenting a
political alternative of its own. Reduced taxes: people
must be able to live on their earnings after tax, without
having to depend on handouts! Greater freedom of
choice: give individuals control over their own
everyday lives! These were demands which came to be
pressed more and more vigorously.
Freedom of choice realised
When, following the 1991 election, Carl Bildt formed a
coalition government consisting of four non-socialist
parties, this was the first time since 1930 that Sweden
78

had had a Prime Minister belonging to our party. That
government realised many of the demands which had
evolved. The pressure of taxation was reduced. The care
allowance enabled parents to choose their child care
arrangements for themselves. The school voucher
enabled parents and pupils to choose schools. The family
doctor reform gave patients the opportunity of choosing
their doctor. The three years of non-socialist government
added up to a revolution of free choice.
But the non-socialist administration also had many
difficult problems to cope with. The Social Democrats
had left behind them an economy in free fall and
dramatically rising unemployment. Conditions for
business enterprise were improved by means of
deregulations and tax cuts, and in this way the trend was
successfully reversed. Sweden was restored to growth
and the number of jobs increased. But the trend
inflection and the upturn came too late to have a real
impact on the electorate.
After the 1994 election Sweden once again found itself
with a Social Democratic government. That government
has pursued a policy of reinstatement whereby many of
the problems which the non-socialist government was
in the process of solving – poor growth and high
unemployment, for example – have now been made
permanent.
As the largest non-socialist party, we feel it is our
responsibility to shape a better alternative than the
policy of the Social Democratic government. In the
budget proposals presented in the spring of 2002, we
show the policy we wish to pursue for the sake of liberty,
economic growth and greater prosperity.
Organisation
The party’s supreme policy-making body is the Party
Congress, which meets every two years. At alternate
Party Congresses (i.e. every four years) a 13-member
Party Executive is elected. This Executive, of which the
chairpersons of the Moderate Women and the Moderate
Party Youth League are ex officio members, is the party’s
supreme decision-making body between congresses.
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The parliamentary Moderate Party, numbering 82
members, has an Executive of its own, comprising 13
members. The parliamentary group is also divided into
16 committees, matching the committees of the Riksdag.
Each committee consists mainly of party members and
alternates from the corresponding committee and (at
least) one political officer from our parliamentary office.
At regional level we have Moderate Federations,
corresponding on the whole to county boundaries
(though the county of Stockholm has one federation for
the city of Stockholm and one for the rest of the county,
Skåne has three federations and West Götaland has four,
matching the old county boundaries). Each federation
has an executive elected at the annual federation
conference. At municipal (local government) level we
have party associations which, in some large communities
where there are several such associations, are grouped
into constituency organisations. The party associations
hold annual meetings at which association executives
are elected.
The national party organisation (RO) has upwards
of a hundred employees. RO consists of the Political
Division, the International Division, the Brussels Office,
the Riksdag Office, the Organisation and Campaign
Division, the Press and Information Division and the
Financial and Administrative Division. The county
federations have offices of their own with between one
or about ten employees, depending on the size of the
federation concerned. The party associations can seldom
afford to pay staff and instead are run by volunteers on
a spare-time basis.
The Moderates have a special women’s network, called
Moderate Women.
The Moderate Party Youth League (MUF) is organised
on the same lines as the party itself, with a central
executive elected by a national conference. At regional
level the League is divided into districts, with separate
MUF associations for individual localities.
The foundation of the party organisation is its
members who (if we include the Moderate Party Youth
League) total about 80,000.
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The party election manifesto adopted before each
election and setting out our pledges for the coming term
of office, is adopted by the Party Executive.
The parliamentary group is assisted by the Riksdag
Office, which is headed by an Administrative Director
and an Assistant Administrative Director and otherwise
consists of a number of Political Officers, a secretarial
staff and a caretaker.
At the European Parliament in Brussels we have an
Administrative Director and five political officers
(assisting the party’s MEPs) and a small press department
with a staff of two.
The parliamentary group, the parliamentary group
executive, the committees and the Riksdag Office are
responsible for observation of day-to-day political
affairs. More overarching, long-term policy is the
responsibility of the party executive and the party’s
political division.
The political division also includes handling officers
for municipal and county council policy who assist in coordinating
the party’s policies at local and regional levels.
The party publishes a membership journal,
Medborgaren, which appears eight times annually. There
is also Svensk Tidskrift, which is published by a separate
foundation but makes no secret of being very closely
allied with the Moderates.
Political ideas
The core of Moderate policy is the liberty of the individual.
The state must never do things which individual persons
– alone or together with others – can do just as well or
even better.
Anyone wishing to reduce other people’s freedom
must show justification for doing so. Accordingly, it is
not a person wishing to retain their money who must
explain why, it is the person wishing to spend other
people’s money who must prove the necessity of doing so.
Sweden has the world’s highest taxes. We want to
reduce them substantially. Today hundreds of thousands
of people with jobs still have to depend on public handouts
in order to make ends meet. We maintain that people
81

must be able to live on their earnings and also be able to
save for the future.
We also want to abolish the punitive taxation of
knowledge which is causing many highly educated people
to leave Sweden for other countries and which – the
individual climate being a central part of the climate
for enterprise – is causing many business undertakings
to leave or steer clear of Sweden.
Unemployment in Sweden is very high. If all the
people taking part in labour market policy programmes
and those staying on at university because they cannot
find a job are included, nearly one-sixth of the labour
force is without work.
To create more jobs, the tax on labour must be
substantially reduced, especially for people with low and
medium incomes. In addition, it must be made far more
easy to start, run and own businesses. The jungle of red
tape which today is effectively stifling enterprise and
entrepreneurship must be drastically reduced.
Moderate policy is about freedom of choice. Partly
by keeping taxes as low as possible, so that people can
decide for themselves how they want to spend their
money. And partly by applying the greatest possible
freedom of choice even for money which has been
paid as tax.
We want to finance good schools and good medical
care for everyone on a common basis, but we want public
funding to follow the individual pupil or patient straight
to the school or hospital which he or she prefers.
The state being responsible for funding does not mean
that it has to be responsible for providing. On the
contrary, the diversity represented by independent
schools and private hospitals is necessary in order for
all children to be able to acquire good knowledge and
for everyone to receive good care in time. The existence
of many different employers also means better opportunities
of choice for the people working in these fields.
If people are to get value for their tax money, adequate
resources must also be devoted to the really essential
task of the state, which is the protection of people’s lives
and property. If people do not feel secure, their freedom
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will not be worth so much. It is obvious to us Moderates
that Sweden must have a strong defence and efficient
policing. We want Sweden to join NATO and we want
to increase the number of police officers. In addition,
there must be heavier penalties, especially for serious
crimes of violence.
Moderate policy always begins with the individual,
no matter whether we are talking about the right of
controlling one’s own life or the right of being protected
from crime.
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84
Names and addresses
National office
Moderate Party National Organisation
Box 1243
SE-111 82 Stockholm
Visiting address: Schönfeldts gränd 2
Tel: +46-8-676 80 00
Fax: +46-8-21 61 23
E-mail: info@moderat.se
www.moderat.se
Party Secretary
Johnny Magnusson
Tel: +46-8-676 80 00
Head of Press and Information
Lena Magnergård
Tel: +46-8-786 44 55
Mobile: +46-73-682 80 08
Press Secretary
Ulrica Schenström,
Tel: +46-8-786 45 69
Mobile: +46-73-682 80 02
Parliamentary Secretariat
Moderaternas riksdagskansli
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Mynttorget 1
Tel: +46-8-676 80 00
Fax: +46-8-786 47 54

The Social Democratic Party
86
Socialdemokraterna
“As a politician I am driven by a
determination to shape a society of
liberty, equality and solidarity.”
Photo: Esther Sorri

Göran Persson
My name is Göran Persson and I am 53 years
old. For just over six years now I have been
Prime Minister and Chairman of the Swedish
Social Democratic Party.
As a politician I am driven by a determination
to shape a society of liberty, equality
and solidarity.
Therefore I am proud that we have reduced
open unemployment in Sweden by half –
proud but not satisfied. There are still many
people without work and far too many who
are getting worn out at their workplaces.
I am proud that we have a school system
which is good by international standards –
proud, but not satisfied. It is unacceptable
that there should be pupils who are not receiving
the support they need so as to be
able to learn to count, read and write satisfactorily.
I am proud that we have good caring services
for the elderly and sick – proud, but not
satisfied. Too many people are having to wait
far too long for treatment, and there are not
enough personnel to look after them.
I am proud that Sweden is often mentioned
as an example in efforts to create a
better environment – proud, but not satisfied.
For we all know that air and water are
still being polluted by vehicle exhausts and
other emissions and that the future of succeeding
generations is being jeopardised.
To make a good country – Sweden –
better, therefore, we need more justice
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88
and more common assumption of responsibility.
We need policies, democratically
made decisions, which can influence society
in the right direction.
That is why I am a Social Democrat and
have involved myself in politics. That is also
why I hope everyone will exercise their right
and opportunity of voting in the election on
15th September this year.
Göran Persson (s)
History
During the second half of the 19 th century, Sweden went
through a very rapid process of industrialisation. Landless
agricultural workers became the new industrial proletariat.
The class differences were immense, poverty and distress
widespread. This was a state of affairs which engendered
trade-unionism and political parties. The working class
began to organise in order to improve its working and living
conditions.
The Swedish Social Democratic Party was founded in
1889. The party´s first Member of the Parliament was
Hjalmar Branting, elected to the Second Chamber in 1896.
Some 30 years were to pass before he was able to form the
first Social Democratic government. The party was in
government, with a short break, for 44 years (1932-1976),
and for 15 years in coalition with one or more parties.
The campaign for better living conditions demanded a
common trade-unionist and political strategy. The close
co-operation between the Social Democrats and the
Swedish Trade Union Confederation (LO) has left a
profound imprint on Swedish politics.
At a very early stage, the Swedish labour movement
opted for peaceful process of social change. It is through
reforms and peaceful development that society is to be
altered.

Organisation
Internal democracy and policy-making close to the
citizens are basic principles of the Social Democratic
Party. Each municipality has a local party organisation
which makes municipal action programmes, carries out
educational and other activities and conducts election
campaigns. The local party organisation co-operates
with the local trade-union organisations as well as other
local organisations within the labour movement. Within
each municipal party organisation there are a number
of Social Democratic associations which play an
important part, due to their connection with particular
housing areas, workplaces etc.
There are 292 local party organisations and about 2,500
Social Democratic associations. The Social Democratic
Party has about 152,000 members.
The supreme policy-making body of the Social
Democratic Party is the Party Congress, held every
fourth year. The Party Congress is attended by 350
elected delegates who lay down the party programme
and statutes, as well as define the general guidelines of
party policy in response to members´ motions.
The Congress also appoints the Party Board, which
is the supreme decision-making body of the party between
congresses.
International co-operation
The Swedish Social Democratic Party is a member of
the Socialist International, the worldwide organisation
of socialist, social democratic and labour parties. It
currently brings together over 140 political parties and
organisations from all continents, and is the oldest and
largest political association in the world. António
Guterres former Prime Minister of Portugal, was elected
President in 1999 by the International’s 21st Congress.
The Swedish Social Democratic Party is a member of
the Party of European Socialists (PES), which brings
together the Socialist, Social Democratic and Labour
parties of the European Union (EU) and the applicant
countries. The PES, which has 35 member parties, was
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founded in 1992. It succeeded the Confederation of
Socialist Parties of the European Community, which had
been set up in 1974. The current President, Robin Cook,
was elected President at the 5th Congress of the PES in
Berlin in 2001. The PES group is the second largest in
the European Parliament.
There is close co-operation between the Swedish
Social Democratic Party and its Nordic counterparts
through SAMAK, which was founded in 1886.
Through The Olof Palme International Centre the
party, as well as the rest of the Labour Movement,
supports democracy development and other solidarity
projects with countries in the Third World and Central
and Eastern Europe.
Sweden is a wealthy country
with great possibilities
Ours is one of the countries where equality, and gender
equality, have progressed furthest. Positive commitment
and knowledge and many people’s creativity and industry
have made Sweden a leading research and IT nation with
a high level of employment and many successful business
undertakings. We have an extensive welfare system and
our communal economy is strong. We have a healthy,
variegated environment and Sweden is a pioneer in the
change-over to ecologically sustainable development. We
live in the region – the Baltic Sea region – which perhaps
stands to gain most from EU enlargement. Although we
are a small country in the world, Sweden is a strong voice
for international solidarity, democracy and peace.
These are strong points and possibilities which we
must make good use of. Today we need them more than
ever.
The world we live in has grown more insecure.
Globalisation has not only entailed the intertwining of
economies and greater mobility of people and business
undertakings. On 11th September 2001 came the worst
example hitherto of the new kind of menace which the
countries of the world are now having to face. The terror
attacks on New York and Washington were not only the
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cold-blooded murder of thousands of people. They were
also an attack on democratic society, on the open society
we want to live in.
The world is now uniting in the struggle against global
terrorism. To us Social Democrats it is obvious in this
situation that we must side with the UN, international
law and the right of all countries to defend themselves.
Equally and naturally we are now increasing demands
for humanitarian measures to relieve suffering in
Afghanistan – demands which we make on ourselves just
as much as on others.
At the same time as the world is becoming one, it is
divided. It is divided by injustice. Development will
never become sustainable as long as millions of people
are denied a share of it. Poverty must be abolished. The
destruction of the environment must be halted. World
trade must be made fair. The North-South dialogue must
be renewed. Social Democracy must take the lead in an
offensive for global justice.
We are all dependent on each other. Developments
in other parts of the world affect us here in Sweden.
Today we are facing an international economic downturn,
but we are doing so on stable economic foundations.
We know today that it was because of, not in spite of,
our welfare model that we got through the crisis years
of the 90s more rapidly than expected. We have seen that
equality and solidarity do not impede development. On
the contrary, they strengthen it.
We want Sweden to be a country for everyone, a
country where we stick together and care about each
other. Where everyone can play their part. Where
everyone has a share in the proceeds of development.
But that is not the situation today.
Gaps between people and regions in Sweden are
widening. A few kilometres on the map can mean
tremendous differences in formative conditions and
future prospects for the children who are growing up
today. Climate change and mad cow disease are examples
showing that we are not living in equilibrium with
nature. Stress and the hectic pace of life are undermining
people’s health. Many older persons feel insecure. Young
91

persons hesitate to start families. Many people’s lives
are darkened by discrimination and intolerance. There
are too many people in Sweden who are denied a share
of progress.
The efforts of Social Democracy since 1997 have
above all been concentrated on the fight against
unemployment. People’s work lays the foundations of
welfare. Full employment is our objective. Social
Democratic growth policy is based on the right to
meaningful employment. Social Democracy will always
be ready to combat rising unemployment.
Our economic policy has been aimed at creating an
economy which can cope with cyclic fluctuations
without people having to be affected by sudden spending
cuts devastating the domestic budget or the quality of
welfare. Today we can parry an international downturn
with a strong economy and without needing to pack
down on reforms already promised for greater justice
and security.
The task of strengthening welfare can – and must –
continue everywhere in the country. Although great
efforts have been made as unemployment has fallen and
common resources have grown, great deficiencies still
exist.
Social Democracy is a movement of social criticism.
Believing strongly in change, in the possibilities of
improvement, we are permanently opposed to social
injustice. It is inequalities and injustices that limit
people’s liberty, cut off their chances in life, stifling the
dreams and ambitions of hundreds of thousands of
individuals.
Injustice is incompatible with our basic vision. All
people are of equal worth. We all live here by the same
right. And so we must all live here on equal terms.
Nor is injustice compatible with a modern view of
development. If we shrink the opportunities available
to large parts of the population, we will be shrinking our
combined capacity to create a better Sweden.
We are living at a time when development is moving
faster than ever. We are living in a strongly internationalised
economic environment. In Sweden, just as elsewhere in
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Europe, the trend is towards growing numbers of elderly
people in the population, at the same time as too few
children are being born. The level of stress in our society
is far too high and this must be altered if galloping ill
health is to be curbed. We know that our children’s
future living conditions will depend on the size of the
steps which we are able to take towards an ecological
readjustment, on whether we can succeed in building a
green home for the nation. These and other challenges
demand changes. Changes in our way of thinking and
behaving – in everyday life as well as in politics.
We are living in the midst of change, with all our needs
and wishes, our successes and defeats, our happiness, our
curiosity and determination to be useful, our inadequacy,
our strength and power.
In a time of change we all need security. It is in
security that freedom grows. It is security that emboldens
people. This is why we are safeguarding an efficient
welfare model. It is why we warn against a policy which
despises politics and dismantles democratic influence,
which unleashes the profit motive and market forces on
important sectors of welfare.
To us Social Democrats, man is the objective. Human
emancipation is the purpose of politics. This calls for a
society which enables everyone to fare well in life.
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94
Names and addresses
Party Headquarters
Socialdemokraterna
SE-105 60 Stockholm
Visiting Address: Sveavägen 68
Tel: +46-8-700 26 00
Fax: +46-8-20 26 03
E-mail: info@socialdemokraterna.se
www.socialdemokraterna.se
Party Chairman
Göran Persson
General Secretary
Lars Stjernkvist
Head of Press Service
Anna Forsberg
Tel: +46-8-700 26 36
International Secretary
Ann Linde
Tel: +46-8-700 26 71
Parliamentary Office
Socialdemokratiska riksdagsgruppen
Sveriges Riksdag
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Riddarhustorget 7-9
Tel: +46-8-786 48 60
Fax: +46-8-21 15 24
E-mail: socilademokraterna@riksdagen.se
Party Group Leader
Britt Bohlin
Swedish Social Democrats in the European
Parliament
European Parliament 14G302
B-1047 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32-2-284 63 70
Fax: +32-2-284 67 63
E-mail: psedelegsv@europarl.eu.int

96
Contact information
The Riksdag
SE-100 12 Stockholm
Visiting address: Riksgatan 1
Tel: +46-8-786 40 00
E-mail: riksdagsinformation@riksdagen.se
www.riksdagen.se
Party Parliamentary Offices
The Centre Party (c)
See page 29
The Swedish Christian Democrats (kd)
See page 40
The Green Party (mp)
See page 53
The Left Party (v)
See page 61
The Liberal Party (fp)
See page 72
The Moderate Party (m)
See page 84
The Social Democratic Party (s)
See page 94
Government Offices
Postal address to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs:
SE-103 39 Stockholm
Postal address to the other ministries, including the
Prime Minister’s Office:
SE-103 33 Stockholm
Tel: +46-8-405 10 00 (switchboard)
www.regeringen.se
www.sweden.gov.se

Press Centre for foreign correspondents
SE-103 39 Stockholm
Visiting address: Fredsgatan 4-6
Head of Press Centre
Gösta Grassman
Tel: +46-8-405 57 92
Fax: +46-8-405 59 88
E-mail: gosta.grassman@foreign.ministry.se
Prime Minister’s Office
Visiting address: Rosenbad 4
E-mail: registrator@primeminister.ministry.se
Head of Press Department
Jan Larsson
Mobile: + 46-70-593 34 12
Press Secretary to Göran Persson
Anna Helsén
Mobile: + 46-70-698 48 58
Press Secretary to Lena Hjelm-Wallén
Anders Teljebäck
Mobile: + 46-70-561 32 89
Ministry of Justice
Visiting address: Rosenbad 4
E-mail: registrator@justice.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Thomas Bodström
Björn Lindh
Mobile: +46-70-592 58 17
Press Secretary to Britta Lejon
Magnus Ljungkvist
Mobile: +46-70-543 20 51
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Visiting address: Gustav Adolfs torg 1
E-mail: registrator@foreign.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Anna Lindh
Dan Svanell
Mobile: +46-70-560 17 93
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Press Secretary to Leif Pagrotsky
Monica Björklund
Mobile: +46-708-67 39 86
Press Secretary Jan O. Karlsson
Helena Gustafsson
Mobile: +46-709-13 56 82
Ministry of Defence
Visiting address: Jakobsgatan 8
E-mail: registrator@defence.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Björn von Sydow
Paula Burrau
Mobile: +46-70-590 87 38
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
Visiting address: Fredsgatan 8
E-mail: registrator@social.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Lars Engqvist
Refik Sener
Mobile: +46-70-335 33 72
Press Secretary to Ingela Thalén
Kicki Mäler
Mobile: +46-70-545 17 88
Ministry of Finance
Visiting address: Drottninggatan 21
E-mail: registrator@finance.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Bosse Ringholm
Maja Nilsson
Mobile: +46-70-586 59 90
Press Secretary to Lars-Erik Lövdén
Martina Engberg
Mobile: +46-70-575 15 99
Ministry of Education and Science
Visiting address: Drottninggatan 16
E-mail: registrator@education.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Thomas Östros
Håkan Carlsson
Mobile: +46-708-56 99 56

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries
Visiting address: Fredsgatan 8
E-mail: registrator@agriculture.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Margareta Winberg
Zoran Alagic (gender equality issues)
Mobile: +46-70-372 34 03
Press Secretary to Margareta Winberg
Fredrik Vinthagen
Mobile: +46-70-660 52 74
Ministry of Culture
Visiting address: Drottninggatan 16
E-mail: registrator@culture.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Marita Ulvskog
Hans Ånell
Mobile: +46-70-543 97 09
Ministry of the Environment
Visiting address: Tegelbacken 2
E-mail: registrator@environment.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Kjell Larsson
Anette Törnqvist
Mobile: +46-70-548 76 80
Press Secretary to Lena Sommestad
Mikael Magnusson
Mobile: +46-70-862 79 83
Ministry of Industry, Employment and
Communications
Jakobsgatan 26
E-mail: registrator@industry.ministry.se
Press Secretary to Björn Rosengren
Eva Rosengren
Mobile: +46-70-657 08 95
Press Secretary to Mona Sahlin
Camila Buzaglo
Mobile: +46-70-545 32 69
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Press Secretary to Ulrica Messing
Lovisa Lantz
Mobile: +46-70-592 45 46
Information Rosenbad – The Information
Department of the Government Offices
Visiting address: Drottninggatan 5
Open: Monday - Thursday 11-17, Friday 11-16.30
Tel. +46-8-405 41 60
E-mail: registrator@adm.ministry.se
The Election Authority
Box 4210
SE-171 04 Solna
Visiting address: Solna strandväg 86
Tel: +46-8-627 64 30
E-mail: valet@val.se
www.val.se
Swedish Institute
Box 7434
SE-103 91 Stockholm
Visiting address: Hamngatan/Kungsträdgården
Tel: +46-8-789 20 00
E-mail: si@si.se
www.si.se