Election Guide 2002 - Sweden.se

22
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.