Election

The following articles have been tagged with "Election":

Reinfeldt leads voter support poll

Politics: 20 Mar 10
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt retains his position at the top of the party leader board in a new survey on voter confidence while support for opposition leader Mona Sahlin continues to decline. READ »

Uppsala airport gets go ahead for low-cost flyers

Business & Money: 19 Mar 10
The Uppsala military airport Ärna has been given the environmental all clear to begin hosting low-cost commercial flyers, the County Administrative Board announced in a statement on Friday. READ »

Opposition youth league registers government 'Alliance' brand

Politics: 17 Mar 10
SSU, the opposition Social Democrat party youth league, has registered the patent for the Swedish word Alliansen (The Alliance) - the collective name used by the government for its four-party coalition. READ »

Turks leave Social Democrats in protest

Politics: 17 Mar 10
The association of Turkish Social Democrats in Gothenburg has elected to discontinue its operations after last week's parliamentary vote to recognize as genocide the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turks. READ »

Black Cobra gang steals selection of small cakes

National: 12 Mar 10
Criminals with connections to the Black Cobra network are suspected by police of pilfering 120 boxes of almond tarts, punch rolls, apple crowns and brownies from a delivery truck in southern Sweden on Thursday. READ »

Police identify Uruguayan star's tormentors

Sport: 11 Mar 10
Police have identified nine of the sixteen Hammarby supporters who crashed an AIK training session on Wednesday and threatened Uruguayan international midflieder Sebastián Eguren. READ »

Top flight club bans foreign language use

Sport: 10 Mar 10
Swedish top flight football club Brommapojkarna (BP) has introduced a language policy requiring all players to speak Swedish to each other in order to be eligible for selection. READ »

Voddler signs deal with Warner Bros.

Business & Money: 10 Mar 10
Swedish internet movie service Voddler has signed a contract with the US film giant Warner Bros. Entertainment. The deal covers film material from Warner Bros and New Line Cinema. READ »

Euro court warns Sweden over Iran deportation

National: 10 Mar 10
The European Court of Human Rights has told Sweden that it will breach its humanitarian obligations if it deports an Iranian asylum seeker, saying his claims of past torture appeared to be true. READ »

Svanberg claims millions in holiday pay out

Business & Money: 8 Mar 10
Carl-Henric Svanberg, the former CEO of Swedish telecom firm Ericsson, has been paid 6.8 million kronor ($960,000) for accrued holiday that he was unable to take. READ »

Iraqi expats flock to polling booths in Sweden

National: 7 Mar 10
At least 26,000 Iraqis living in Sweden cast their absentee ballots at the weekend, ahead of the Iraqi general elections on Sunday. Some 80,000 Iraqis live in Sweden. READ »

Record support for Greens: poll

National: 6 Mar 10
Support for the Green Party has increased by three percentage points to 10.6 percent according a new poll, which shows a majority of voters support Sweden's Left-Green alliance. READ »

Swedish Armed Forces cuts troops and bases

National: 6 Mar 10
The Swedish Armed Forces (Försvarsmakten) has proposed to scale down the country's domestic defences, closing at least one air force base, eliminating one troop regiment and halving training resources for home defences. READ »

Debt office forecasts boost to state coffers

Business & Money: 3 Mar 10
The Swedish National Debt Office (Riksgälden) has forecast that state finances will recover quicker than expected and anticipates financial scope for government spending in time for the autumn election. READ »

Swedes back housekeeping tax relief

Politics: 3 Mar 10
A new poll shows Swedes are in favour of the system of household services tax relief that the left-green opposition has declared it will abolish - despite its popularity among top Social Democrats - if it wins the autumn election, READ »

Opposition to end housekeeping tax relief

Politics: 2 Mar 10
The left-green opposition has confirmed that it plans to abolish the system of tax relief for household services that the government claims has generated 7,000 jobs. READ »

Housekeeping tax relief divides opposition

National: 28 Feb 10
Sweden's Moderate Party is launching a campaign today to make housekeeping a major issue in the country's upcoming elections thereby exploiting divisions between opposition parties. READ »

Public bodies to accept thousands of interns

Business & Money: 26 Feb 10
To meet labour market policy goals the Swedish Alliance government is demanding that public authorities accept 65,000 interns in a move designed to get the unemployed back to work. READ »

Left-Green opposition pulls away: poll

Politics: 26 Feb 10
The Left-Green opposition has increased its lead over the Alliance government, a new poll on Friday shows. The far-right Sweden Democrats polled their highest showing yet. READ »

More Moderates resign over internal vote fraud

Politics: 19 Feb 10
Two Moderate Party politicians in Stockholm have handed in their resignations amid an ongoing internal vote-rigging probe. Stockholm mayor, Sten Nordin expressed his 'disappointment'. READ »

Why deny a princess her fairytale? Republicans and the royal weddings

Analysis & Opinion: 15 Feb 10
With Sweden's royal wedding year now upon us, writer and commoner Allan Burnett hoists the flag for an influential group catering for the anti-monarchy needs of a large and flabbergasted minority. READ »

Moderates knew of election list fraud: report

National: 14 Feb 10
Highly placed leaders of the Moderate Party (Moderaterna) have known for weeks that electoral fraud was being committed within the local organization in Stockholm, according to a media report. READ »

Sweden Democrats could enter parliament: poll

National: 14 Feb 10
The nationalist Sweden Democrats have moved ahead of the threshold required for entering parliament, according to a national poll. READ »

Stockholm politician accused of election fraud

Politics: 13 Feb 10
A leading candidate for the Moderate Party (Moderaterna) in Stockholm was forced to stand down on Friday when he admitted to cheating to secure a nomination for this year's general election. READ »

AT&T picks Ericsson for 4G network

Business & Money: 11 Feb 10
US telecoms giant AT&T has selected Sweden's Ericsson and France's Alcatel-Lucent as equipment suppliers for its next-generation, high-speed mobile phone network, the companies said on Wednesday. READ »

What's On in Sweden: February 12th - 18th

Lifestyle: 10 Feb 10
What’s on in Sweden: Jedi Mind Tricks and Joyce Carol Oates in Stockholm, thousands of kisses in Gothenburg and Beethoven in Blue Jeans in Malmö. READ »

'Backward' rental market must be fixed: expert

Analysis & Opinion: 10 Feb 10
The wait for a rental apartment in Stockholm averages 104 weeks, according to a new report published this week. The Local has found that behind the heated dialogue there lie few easy solutions. READ »

Proposed tax writeoffs for computer and TV installation

Politics: 7 Feb 10
Swedish national elections are still months away. But political parties are already vaunting enticing proposals to woo voters. Such as income tax writeoffs for professional installation of home computers. READ »

Green Party stumbles in new poll

Politics: 5 Feb 10
The two political blocs have drawn to within three percentage points of each other, a new voter poll shows. The Green Party is the biggest loser in the new survey. READ »

Christmas shopping stop for Jacob Zuma in Swedish grocery store

Society: 5 Feb 10
The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, became so enamoured with traditional Swedish advent candlesticks while attending the December climate summit that he took 15 of them home with him. READ »

Justice Minister reluctant to store data

National: 4 Feb 10
The European Court of Justice has told Sweden that it must implement a 2006 measure requiring telecom operators to store information about their customers’ phone calls and emails. But Justice Minister Beatrice Ask remains sceptical. READ »

Profile: Sweden's new EU minister Birgitta Ohlsson

Analysis & Opinion: 2 Feb 10
Birgitta Ohlsson was named as Sweden's new EU minister on Tuesday. An outspoken advocate of feminism, equality and civil liberties issues, as well as a keen supporter of Nato membership, Ohlsson also harbours dreams of a top UN human rights post. READ »

Ohlsson defies critics to claim EU minister post

Politics: 2 Feb 10
Birgitta Ohlsson has been named as Liberal Party colleague Cecilia Malmström's successor as Sweden's EU minister despite the initial reservations of party leader Jan Björklund. READ »

Taxes and jobs dominate party leader debate

Politics: 1 Feb 10
Sunday's televised debate between the five leaders of Sweden's major political parties was dominated by taxes and labour market policy, while exposing divisions within the opposing blocs. READ »

Government closes voter gap: poll

Politics: 29 Jan 10
Sweden's ruling centre-right alliance has increased its pulling power among voters to take a 45.7 percent share according to a new poll. But the left-green opposition still maintains its lead with 48.6 percent. READ »

Swede awarded UN top job in Afghanistan

National: 28 Jan 10
Long-serving Swedish diplomat Staffan de Mistura has been appointed by UN chief Ban Ki-moon as his new envoy to Afghanistan. READ »

Sweden sets pace as countries race to tackle music piracy

Science & Technology: 27 Jan 10
Countries all over the world are following the lead of Sweden, France and South Korea as the battle against illegal music downloads intensifies. READ »

Moderates add feminist touch to policy platform

Politics: 25 Jan 10
The Moderate Party is making an election year play to increase its appeal to feminist voters, promising to take on gender-based pay disparities and ranking schools according to gender equity, among other proposals. READ »

Opposition maintains strong lead: poll

Politics: 24 Jan 10
Sweden's opposition has a strong lead at the start of the election year, according to a new poll which puts the Left-Green coalition more than ten percentage points ahead. READ »

Sick leave dominates first election year debate

Politics: 20 Jan 10
Sweden's two political blocs each set out their stalls on Wednesday in the first parliamentary debate of 2010, with sickness benefits proving the main bone of contention. READ »

Swedes swap passwords for chocolate treats

Science & Technology: 20 Jan 10
Sweet-toothed Swedes are happy to trade their internet passwords for bars of chocolate, according to a poll carried out by an appalled computer magazine. READ »

Centre Party support hits all time low: poll

Politics: 15 Jan 10
Voter support for the government alliance Centre Party has taken a significant downturn according to a new survey which puts the opposition in a commanding lead at the start of the election year. READ »

Price freeze to follow 2009 property bonanza

Business & Money: 14 Jan 10
Analysts expect a slowdown in the Swedish residential property market in 2010 following a year in which apartment prices rose by 20 percent amid record low interest rates. READ »

Wallström voters' pick for Prime Minister: poll

Politics: 9 Jan 10
Social Democrat Margot Wallström is a more popular choice than Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to lead the country, according to a new poll. The result follows speculation surrounding a secret plan to oust opposition leader Mona Sahlin. READ »

Swede offered top UN Afghanistan role

Politics: 9 Jan 10
Veteran Swedish diplomat and former UN envoy to Iraq, Steffan de Mistura, has been offered the job of top UN representative to Afghanistan according to the US pointman for the country. READ »

Saab can still be sold: General Motors

National: 9 Jan 10
General Motors announced on Friday it had begun "an orderly wind-down" of its Swedish unit Saab, but would consider any late proposals for the brand, in a move drawing protests from Sweden. READ »

GM begins official Saab wind-down

National: 8 Jan 10
General Motors have taken the decision to start official proceedings to wind down the Saab Automobile organisation in Trollhättan. READ »

January in Sweden: Week one, thirteenth day, thinking time

Lifestyle: 5 Jan 10
The Year in Sweden - January: Journalist Kim Loughran sketches a month by month account of the country he has called home ever since his accidental migration in 1966. READ »

Alfredsson's injury could hurt Swedish Olympic hockey team

Sport: 27 Dec 09
While Sweden was set to release its provisional roster for its 2010 Olympic hockey team on Sunday, the Ottawa Senators announced that their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, a key player in Sweden's 2006 Olympic gold medal run, will be out four to six weeks. READ »

Police doubt Swedish ties to Auschwitz theft

National: 24 Dec 09
Amid speculations about a 'mysterious Swede' being behind the the theft of the Nazi "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from Auschwitz, Swedish police have said they had no information about about a possible Swedish connection to the crime. READ »

Christmas shopping guide: Swedish design online

Lifestyle: 22 Dec 09
Waited till the last minute to pick up a gift for the design aficionado in your life? Here's help. We've dusted off The Local’s quintessential guide to the best of Swedish design online with some old, some new and some just plain odd. READ »

Saab closure sad but expected: Swedish media

Analysis & Opinion: 20 Dec 09
Weighing in over the weekend about the closure of Saab auto manufacturer, the Swedish media expressed regret but not surprise over General Motor's decision to wind down its Swedish operations. READ »

'Feminists have better sex': Swedish party

Politics: 17 Dec 09
Sweden's feminist political party is hoping logo items featuring a bold claim about their supporters’ supposed prowess in the bedroom will raise awareness about the party during the holiday shopping season. READ »

What's On in Sweden: December 18th - 24th

Lifestyle: 17 Dec 09
What’s on in Sweden: Eddie Izzard strips all over Sweden, Rave photos in Stockholm, Turkish puppetry in Gothenburg and a Synthfest in Malmö. READ »

Opposition poll lead 'very worrying': Reinfeldt

Politics: 14 Dec 09
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has admitted he is concerned by poll results showing the opposition in a commanding lead over the centre-right coalition government. READ »

Opposition extends poll lead to achieve majority

Politics: 13 Dec 09
Sweden’s three centre-left opposition political parties have enough voter support to form their own majority, according to a new poll, which also shows the far-right Sweden Democrats with enough support to gain a spot in the Riksdag. READ »

Erik Grönwall Sweden's new Idol

Society: 12 Dec 09
With his big stage presence and booming rock voice, Erik Grönwall took home the Idol 2009 Final at Stockholm’s Globen arena on Friday night. READ »

Bildt berates Iran over treatment of laureate

Politics: 10 Dec 09
As Stockholm gears up for Thursday's Nobel banquet, the foreign ministers of Sweden and Norway have lashed out at Iran for its treatment of 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, who says Iranian authorities confiscated her medal. READ »

Sweden Democrats score five percent in major poll

Politics: 10 Dec 09
The far-right Sweden Democrat party enjoys the support of 5.1 percent of the electorate, according to a major new survey from Statistics Sweden. READ »

Five festive pointers for the perfect Swedish Christmas

Lifestyle: 8 Dec 09
It’s that time of year when people are starting to flippantly use the C-word. Or Jul as it is known in Sweden. But what are the secret ingredients to the perfect Swedish Christmas? Ben Kersley investigates. READ »

Top feminist takes political gamble on Swedish reality TV

Politics: 3 Dec 09
Gudrun Schyman, spokeswoman for the Feminist Initiative (FI) political party, hopes participating in the Let’s Dance reality television show will help her waltz right into the Swedish parliament. READ »

How to survive the Christmas buffet without looking like an idiot

Analysis & Opinion: 3 Dec 09
Does the herring lead us into Jansson's temptation or is it the other way around? Elizabeth Dacey-Fondelius has the lowdown on how to prevent your office julbord from ending in yuletide tears. READ »

Sahlin open to centre- right cooperation

Politics: 27 Nov 09
Social Democrat party leader Mona Sahlin has responded to a new opinion poll showing an increased support for the far-right Sweden Democrats by voicing the possibility of governing with the Liberal and Centre parties. READ »

Voters continue to flee Social Democrats: poll

Politics: 24 Nov 09
Support for the Social Democrats continues to slide, having now dipped below 30 percent, according to a new poll. READ »

A nice cup of tea - how hard can it be?

Lifestyle: 17 Nov 09
What does it take to get a plain old cup of steaming hot tea in Sweden? Paddy Kelly fights the fancy brew brigade and recalls countless grim encounters with tepid beige impostors. READ »

Malmström Sweden's new EU commissioner

Politics: 17 Nov 09
Cecilia Malmström, currently Sweden's EU affairs minister, has been nominated as the successor to the country's outgoing EU commissioner, Margot Wallström. READ »

Sweden Democrats at record high: poll

Politics: 15 Nov 09
The far-right Sweden Democrats have gained a record 5.8 percent of voter sympathies in a new poll published on Sunday; the party is now bigger than both the Christian Democrat and Centre parties. READ »

Wallström in running for top UN job

Politics: 14 Nov 09
Outgoing Swedish EU commissioner Margot Wallström has been nominated by the government to fill a top job at the United Nations headquarters in New York when her term of office ends early next year. READ »

Afghanistan must bridge credibility gap: Bildt

Politics: 11 Nov 09
With Kabul's credibility "bordering disaster", Swedish foreign minster Carl Bildt has called on Hamid Karzai to instigate widespread reforms during his second term as president of Afghanistan. READ »

Apocalypse soon: Disasters abound at Stockholm Film Festival

Analysis & Opinion: 10 Nov 09
It's the end of the world as we know it at this year's Stockholm Film Festival, which promises everything a budding apocalypticist could ever need. But there are also plenty of more upbeat cinematic treats in store if global doom isn't your bag, writes David Stavrou. READ »

Taxpayers fund thinking caps for Swedish town's top brass

Politics: 10 Nov 09
Top level civil servants in Laholm in south-western Sweden have received a selection of different coloured hats worth 18,000 kronor ($2,600) in a bid to help the bearers think innovative thoughts. READ »

Borg 'more optimistic' about Swedish economy

Business & Money: 9 Nov 09
The Swedish economy is set to return to growth next year, but unemployment will remain high, according to a new forecast from finance minister Anders Borg. READ »

Malmö Moderates open to SD cooperation

Politics: 8 Nov 09
The Malmö branch of the Moderate party has not ruled out cooperating with the far-right Sweden Democrat party after next year's general election. READ »

Green Party makes ground among voters

Politics: 7 Nov 09
Green Party co-leader Maria Wetterstrand has surpassed Mona Sahlin as the main challenger to Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt for the affections of Swedish voters, according to a new poll READ »

Malmö gets sucked in to world of comics

Lifestyle: 6 Nov 09
The Local's Charlotte Webb sits down with World of Comics festival co-ordinator, Caroline Lund, to talk masks and multiculturalism in Malmö. READ »

Sweden to tighten child pornography laws

Politics: 2 Nov 09
Sweden's government is meeting on Monday to bring forward new legislation that will prohibit the viewing of child pornography and will establish strict age limit guidelines. READ »

Left coalition partners in show of conference unity

Politics: 1 Nov 09
The Social Democrats welcomed their centre-left coalition partners, the Green and Left parties, to their ongoing conference on Sunday - the first time outside parties have taken part. READ »

Reinfeldt a 'dark horse' for EU president job

Politics: 31 Oct 09
With reports emerging over the frontrunners for the permanent position of EU president, a new contender has emerged in the international media in the shape of Sweden's Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt. READ »

Social Democrats target pensioners on tax

Politics: 31 Oct 09
In a bid to boost support from Sweden’s older generation, the Social Democrats promised to close the tax gap between pensioners and wage earners at their party conference on Friday. READ »

Ibrahimovic nominated for FIFA award

Sport: 30 Oct 09
Sweden and Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been named among the 23 contenders short-listed for the FIFA World Player of the Year award. READ »

Wallström: EU president 'should be a woman'

Politics: 27 Oct 09
Amid discussions by EU foreign ministers about the need for strong leadership, Swedish EU commissioner Margot Wallström has called for the appointment of a woman to serve as EU president. READ »

Reinfeldt and Olofsson back Green party talks

National: 23 Oct 09
The Moderates and Centre party have backed coalition partner the Liberal party in calls to work with the Green party instead of the Sweden Democrats if the far-right party held the balance of power in parliament. READ »

Liberals open to Green support to block far-right

Politics: 23 Oct 09
Liberal party leader Jan Björklund has opened up the possibility of cooperating with the Green party if the far-right Sweden Democrats garnered enough votes to hold the balance of power after the 2010 election. READ »

'What do the Sweden Democrats want to do with us Muslims?'

Analysis & Opinion: 21 Oct 09
Anna Waara, chairperson of Swedish Muslims for Peace and Justice, calls for politicians and the media to reject the views expressed in an opinion piece by Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson, in which he refers to Muslims as the greatest threat to Sweden since World War II. READ »

Far-right 'no threat' to red-green cooperation

Politics: 20 Oct 09
Left Party leader Lars Ohly on Tuesday changed his stance regarding pre-election cooperation with other parties on the left, emphasizing that the far-right Sweden Democrats would never threaten to split the nascent red-green partnership. READ »