Post by SCarpelan on Jun 21, 2011 5:02:56 GMT -5
So, we finally have a new government after almost two months of negotiations. Excellent. Here are a few thoughts about the situation.
First of all, the True Finns are still in the opposition. While I disagree with them in most issues they still were the largest victor in the election which normally should mean they should also be in the government. They problem was that they refused to compromise on their EU policy which meant that they were left outside the negotiations. This means that they won't be forced to take responsibility of their election promises and can keep up their populist opposition strategy. Added to that is the fact that them being excluded from the negotiations (despite it mostly being their own fault) is seen as unjust by a lot of people and the result is that they might be the largest party after the next elections in four years.
The government is formed by the main conservative party National Coalition, the center-left parties Social Democrats and Left Alliance, the Green Party, the Christian Democrats and the Swedish Folk Party. Only the Center Party and the True Finns are in the opposition. This means that there is both a big left-right difference (Left Alliance - National Coalition) and a big liberal - conservative difference (Green Party - Christian Democrats) between the government parties. Despite the parties coming to an agreement about the government program there will be a lot of difficulties coming during the next four years when the parties try to deal with any new issues coming up. It would surprise me if surprise me if the government can keep their differences in check without any of the parties leaving. Specially the National Coalition's tendency to support neo-liberal economic policies might cause a rift between them and the Left Alliance, maybe also with the Social Democrats and the Green Party. So, we might see a new round of negotiations to form a government before the next elections if enough of the parties leave.
The National Coalition had to compromise a lot during the negotiations but they were able to keep their main requirement: no raises to income tax during this government. The benefits and tax reliefs for the poor and middle class will be raised noticeably and the value added tax will only be raised for tobacco, alcohol and sweets instead of across the board like the Coalition suggested. The tax for the unearned income will also be raised and changed into a progressive tax. Unfortunately the added benefits will mean cutting the expenses. The worst thing they are cutting is the support the government gives to the municipalities because that means they'll have cut their services degrading the benefits the poor get from the added government support.
They'll be also raising the fuel tax which will badly hurt the low-income people in the rural areas. For fuck's sake, if you are going to keep raising this tax at least give tax reliefs for the public transport so the companies won't have to raise their prices and/or cut their services!
Oh, and the government parties promised to the Christian Democrats that none of the parties will propose a gender-neutral marriage law (The gay couples are allowed to register their relationship but not marry). This doesn't mean that individual representatives aren't allowed to propose such a law nor does the agreement forbid the representatives of the government parties from voting for such a proposition. Luckily so, since there is no way the True Finns or the Center Party will propose this. This is a hollow victory for the CDs since this will most likely be proposed and most of the parties not actively supporting this seem to be content with allowing the representatives to vote according to their own opinions. So, we'll most likely have a law about this finally passed.
First of all, the True Finns are still in the opposition. While I disagree with them in most issues they still were the largest victor in the election which normally should mean they should also be in the government. They problem was that they refused to compromise on their EU policy which meant that they were left outside the negotiations. This means that they won't be forced to take responsibility of their election promises and can keep up their populist opposition strategy. Added to that is the fact that them being excluded from the negotiations (despite it mostly being their own fault) is seen as unjust by a lot of people and the result is that they might be the largest party after the next elections in four years.
The government is formed by the main conservative party National Coalition, the center-left parties Social Democrats and Left Alliance, the Green Party, the Christian Democrats and the Swedish Folk Party. Only the Center Party and the True Finns are in the opposition. This means that there is both a big left-right difference (Left Alliance - National Coalition) and a big liberal - conservative difference (Green Party - Christian Democrats) between the government parties. Despite the parties coming to an agreement about the government program there will be a lot of difficulties coming during the next four years when the parties try to deal with any new issues coming up. It would surprise me if surprise me if the government can keep their differences in check without any of the parties leaving. Specially the National Coalition's tendency to support neo-liberal economic policies might cause a rift between them and the Left Alliance, maybe also with the Social Democrats and the Green Party. So, we might see a new round of negotiations to form a government before the next elections if enough of the parties leave.
The National Coalition had to compromise a lot during the negotiations but they were able to keep their main requirement: no raises to income tax during this government. The benefits and tax reliefs for the poor and middle class will be raised noticeably and the value added tax will only be raised for tobacco, alcohol and sweets instead of across the board like the Coalition suggested. The tax for the unearned income will also be raised and changed into a progressive tax. Unfortunately the added benefits will mean cutting the expenses. The worst thing they are cutting is the support the government gives to the municipalities because that means they'll have cut their services degrading the benefits the poor get from the added government support.
They'll be also raising the fuel tax which will badly hurt the low-income people in the rural areas. For fuck's sake, if you are going to keep raising this tax at least give tax reliefs for the public transport so the companies won't have to raise their prices and/or cut their services!
Oh, and the government parties promised to the Christian Democrats that none of the parties will propose a gender-neutral marriage law (The gay couples are allowed to register their relationship but not marry). This doesn't mean that individual representatives aren't allowed to propose such a law nor does the agreement forbid the representatives of the government parties from voting for such a proposition. Luckily so, since there is no way the True Finns or the Center Party will propose this. This is a hollow victory for the CDs since this will most likely be proposed and most of the parties not actively supporting this seem to be content with allowing the representatives to vote according to their own opinions. So, we'll most likely have a law about this finally passed.
