SWEDEN'S SEPTEMBER 17 ELECTIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 STOCKHOLM 001489 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2016 TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR SW SUBJECT: SWEDEN'S SEPTEMBER 17 ELECTIONS REF: A. STOCKHOLM 1421 ¶B. STOCKHOLM 952 ¶C. STOCKHOLM 913 Classified By: Polcouns Casey Christensen, reason 1.4 (b) and (d). Summary -------------- ¶1. (c) Swedes go to the polls September 17 to elect a new parliament that will decide their government for the next four years. The race has been the tightest Sweden has seen in decades, with opinion polls see-sawing, but mostly giving a slight lead to the opposition "Alliance for Sweden" over the incumbent Social Democrat (SDP) minority government that is supported by the Left and Green parties. The Alliance is a two-year-old coalition of the opposition Moderate, Liberal, Christian Democrat, and Center parties, created for the purposes of this election. The unprecedented unity of the opposition, along with the Alliance's pro-job policies and soft touch on the popular Swedish welfare state system, have provided a sustained boost in the opposition's campaign. An opposition win, however, is far from assured. Nearly all opinion polls put the -- most often Alliance -- lead within the statistical margin of error. But the Social Democrats have governed Sweden for all but nine of the past 74 years, and are traditionally strong closers. The race remains a dead heat. ¶2. (c) Preliminary election results will be available on the evening of September 17. Final results will be announced on September 20. If the race is very close, it may turn on the projected 30,000-40,000 mail-in ballots that will be announced September 20. Parliament will open on October 3, and the government will be announced on an unspecified day before then. If the opposition Alliance wins, Moderate Fredrik Reinfeldt will be appointed Prime Minister of a four-party non-socialist coalition, with other ministries being dealt out among the parties after election results are compared. On the other hand, if incumbent Prime Minister Persson's SDP party makes a strong showing and seeks to form another minority government with Green and/or Left support, it is not clear what role those parties will take. If neither the Alliance nor the SDP have or can attract a clear majority, other alternatives may be considered. PM Persson has given indications he would consider working with one or more of the Alliance parties. End Summary. The Calendar Countdown -------------- ¶3. (u) The election will take place on September 17, but voting by mail started in mid-August and "early" voting at a limited number of polling stations began on August 31. As of September 14, nearly 1,100,000 mail-in and early voting ballots had been received by the Election Authority. The total number of eligible voters in this parliamentary election is 6,891,172. Voter participation in the last general election (2002) was 80.1 percent. From past experience, 25-35 percent of voters will vote early or by mail. Votes from abroad and those sent in late locally will not be counted on election day, and will not be announced until September 20. If the race ends up as close as opinion polls now show, these remaining ballots, which are expected to number 30,000-40,000, could decide the election. Preliminary election results will be announced late on September 17, but will only include numbers for the current seven parties in the Riksdag. Only on September 20 will the results for the smaller parties be available. None of the small parties is expected to reach the four percent threshold. (Note: The largest support among the small parties is going to the nationalistic, anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, who are currently registering 1.5-2.0 percent in the opinion polls.) ¶4. (u) On September 21, the allocation of the 349 parliamentary seats among the parties that reach the four percent threshold for parliamentary representation will be announced. Parliament will open on October 3. If the election results are such that a change in Government will occur, the new government will be announced as soon as possible, but there is no fixed time. The last time there was a change in government following an election, in 1994, the new government was appointed within a week of the election. The Speaker of Parliament (who would be new and selected October 2, if there is to be a change of government) first meets with party leaders, then presents a Prime Ministerial candidate to Parliament. Unless a majority votes against the candidate, he or she becomes the new Prime Minister. ¶5. (c) In the case of a straight-forward opposition Alliance victory, it is fairly clear that Moderate Party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt would be the Prime Minister of a four party coalition government, supported by ministers from each of STOCKHOLM 00001489 002 OF 002 those parties. On the other hand, if the combined SDP, Greens and the Left party have a majority of the votes (as is the case in the current parliament),the final outcome is less certain. Current PM Persson would almost certainly head the government, but the respective roles of the Green and Left parties appear still to be under negotiation; the results will depend in large part on the election outcome. At issue is whether the Greens and/or Left would form part of and SDP-led government with ministerial representation, as the Greens (and to a lesser extent the Left) are stridently demanding, or will they remain non-participating support parties. Although unlikely, the possibility of a failure by the SDP, Green, and Left potential majority to reach agreement cannot not be ruled out. In this event, possible outcomes include the Greens siding with the Alliance parties or one or two SDP parties supporting a SDP-Green government that excludes the Left party (an outcome PM Persson has made tantalizing but vague allusions to). What is at Stake for the Swedes -------------- ¶6. (c) The election has turned almost entirely on domestic issues. Moderate party leader Fredrik Reinfeldt, who will be the prime minister if the opposition wins, has focused on employment, while declaring the fundamentals of the welfare state will not be tampered with. The Alliance claims real unemployment is much higher than the official 4.6 percent figure (as of the end of August). Reinfeldt says that if you take into account working age people who are early retirees, in job-training programs, and on long-term disability, the unemployment figure may be over 20 percent. Reinfeldt's Moderate party has styled itself the "new workers' party," taking a jab at the SDP strong alliance with labor unions. He proposes to reduce unemployment benefits, decrease payroll taxes for low-income workers, and provide tax breaks to businesses that hire long-term unemployed. Reinfeldt's approach has given the Moderates -- and the Alliance -- a boost among disillusioned job-seekers. The SDP, on the other hand, has characterized the Alliance's proposals as the thin edge of a wedge attacking the welfare state. For its part, the Alliance has pledged it will not undermine the fundamentals of the welfare state, and intends to focus on job creation. What is at Stake for the U.S. -------------- ¶7. (c) Foreign affairs have been infrequently and never prominently mentioned in the campaign. Both the SDP and the Alliance support Sweden's participation in NATO PfP and the EAPC, and agree there would have to be a national political consensus for Sweden to join NATO. In the Alliance for Sweden, the Moderates and Liberals support NATO membership, but recognize the need for consensus, while the Christian Democrats are agnostic on the issue and the Center Party is skeptical, but says it is amenable if the SDP also joined consensus. ¶8. (c) If the Alliance wins, the fundamentals of bilateral relations could remain much the same in the short term, although the tone would likely become less critical of U.S. policy, and there would likely be a more open advocacy for NATO membership. If the SDP returned to power with non-participatory Green and Left support, foreign policy would remain much as it is now. If, on the other hand, the SDP had to cede ministerial seats to (not very likely) the Greens or (very unlikely) the Left in order to form a government, both the tone and the content of Swedish foreign policy would become more U.S. critical. In Sweden's government, decisions on major issues are collective and taken by consensus of all ministers, including those whose portfolio does not relate to the issue at hand. The Greens and especially Left parties are Euro-skeptic and have been highly critical of U.S. policy regarding human rights, rule of law, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and Palestinian issues. NOBLE