Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
only during periods of war and coalition. It was a remarkable record, made more so by
the fact that modern politics in Sweden has never been about ideology so much as
detail. Socialists and non-socialists alike share a broad consensus on foreign policy and
defence matters, even on the need for the social welfare system. The argument in
Sweden has instead been about economics, a manifestation of which is the issue of
nuclear power
. A second non-Socialist coalition, formed in 1979, presided over a
referendum on nuclear power (1980); the pro-nuclear lobby secured victory, the result
being an immediate expansion of nuclear power generation.
Olof Palme
The Social Democrats regained power in 1982, subsequently devaluing the
krona
,
introducing a freeze on prices and cutting back on public expenditure. They lost their
majority in 1985, having to rely on Communist support to get their bills through.
Presiding over the party since 1969, and prime minister for nearly as long, was
Olof Palme
.
He was assassinated in February 1986 (see p.55), and his death threw Sweden into modern
European politics like no other event. Proud of their open society (Palme had been
returning home unguarded from the cinema), Swedes were shocked by the gunning down
of a respected politician, diplomat and pacifist. The country's social system was placed in
the spotlight, and shock turned to anger and then ridicule as the months passed without
his killer being caught. Police bungling was criticized and despite the theories - Kurdish
extremists, right-wing terror groups - no one was charged with the murder.
Then the police came up with
Christer Pettersson
, who - despite having no apparent
motive - was identified by Palme's wife as the man who had fired the shot that night.
Despite pleading his innocence, claiming he was elsewhere at the time of the murder,
Pettersson was convicted of Palme's murder and jailed. There was great disquiet about
the verdict, however, both at home and abroad. Pettersson was eventually acquitted on
appeal; it was believed that Palme's wife couldn't possibly be sure that the man who
fired the shot was Pettersson, given that she had only seen the murderer once, on the
dark night in question, and then only very briefly. The police appear to believe they
had the right man all along, but in recent years some convincing evidence of the
involvement of the South African secret services has come to light (Palme having been
an outspoken critic of apartheid).
Carlsson and Bildt
Ingvar Carlsson
was elected prime minister after Palme's murder, a position confirmed by
the
1988 General Election
when the Social Democrats - for the first time in years - scored
more seats than the three non-socialist parties combined. However, Carlsson's was a
minority government, and with a background of rising inflation and slow economic
growth, the government announced an
austerity package
in January 1990. This included
a two-year ban on strike action, and a wage, price and rent freeze - strong measures
which astounded most Swedes, used to living in a liberal, consensus-style society.
he
General Election of 1991
merely confirmed that the consensus model had
finally broken down. A four-party centre-right coalition came to power, led by
Carl
Bildt
, which promised tax cuts and economic regeneration, but the recession
1992
1994
1995
Unemployment hits post-war record of
fourteen percent
Estonia
ferry sinks with loss of
852 lives
Sweden joins European Union
