Swedish opposition calls for re-vote on transitional rules after Sweden Democrat coup
The far-right Sweden Democrat party blocked an opposition proposal to add transitional rules to the citizenship law, by sending two MPs to vote that it had agreed would be absent.
The motion was defeated by one vote on Wednesday, despite the opposition managing to convince two former Sweden Democrat MPs to vote in their favour.
The Local had been following the vote all day and we were the first media outlet in Sweden to break the news that it lost because the Sweden Democrats broke long-established parliamentary protocol on "pairing off" – kvittning, where parties agree to hold back MPs from voting to balance out MPs from the opposing side who are absent – win the vote. If that had not happened, the opposition would have had a majority and won the vote.
After the defeat, Green MP Annika Hirvonen, who was one of the driving forces behind the motion, accused the Sweden Democrats of breaking long-established parliamentary protocol on 'pairing off' to win the vote.
"They sent in two people to manipulate the outcome," she told The Local. "This has never happened before... it doesn't look like anything else than conscious manipulation of the result."
She said that the Sweden Democrats' unprecedented breaking of the pairing agreement would have to have "consequences".
"We will need to discuss how we are going to proceed, because after this kind of breach of trust, we can't continue as if nothing has happened. A reasonable thing to do, of course, would be to take the initiative to put this issue to a new vote."
It's unclear what will happen next, but The Local will of course report any new developments.
Swedish vocabulary: a defeat – en förlust
King Carl XVI Gustaf turns 80
Today is the birthday of the King of Sweden, and it's not just any birthday, it's his 80th.
The Royal Guard will parade outside the Royal Palace at 11am, followed by a fly-past by the Air Force and a gun salute at 12.30pm.
Then at 12.35pm there will be a choral tribute at the Norrbro steps, bringing together six choirs: Arctic Light (Luleå), Falu Chamber Choir, Orphei Drängar (Uppsala), Storkyrkan Chamber Choir (Stockholm), Örebro Chamber Choir, and Carolinae Voices (Lund). Presumably this is also where crowds will sing "happy birthday" to the King.
When it's my birthday I get lucky if there's cake.
Swedish vocabulary: a birthday – en födelsedag
Former Northvolt CEO 'bitter' about lack of government backing
When the now-bankrupt battery-maker Northvolt's financial backers jumped ship, the company turned to the government as a last hope. But CEO Peter Carlsson was turned down.
"It can make me quite bitter," he told the Dagens Nyheter newspaper in an interview about his new book.
The book describes the battery giant's rise and fall, told from Carlsson's perspective – and how things becan to unravel when major investors Volkswagen and Porsche pulled out.
At that point, Carlsson had hoped for government support in the form of a bridge loan.
"We needed significantly larger sums, but a symbolic contribution from Sweden would have given us much more confidence," he said.
He describes the period after the bankruptcy, over a year ago, as dark.
"How do you move on from this? I had completely failed with this project and, on top of that, been completely written off as an idiot," he said.
Swedish vocabulary: to move on – att gå vidare
Temperatures to soar past 20C in Sweden
Sweden is set to get a taste of summer on the day of Walpurgis and May 1st, with temperatures climbing over 20C or even reaching 25C.
"It will be the hottest in northern Kalmar county and Östergötland, but even as far north as Dalarna they will have temperatures over 20C," SMHI meteorologist Kjell Lund told the TT newswire.
But the warm and dry weather also means there's a risk of forest and grassfires, which means anyone lighting a Walpurgis bonfire tonight will have to be extra careful.
It's also bad news for pollen sufferers.
"There will be high levels of birch pollen this weekend, from Götaland, Svealand and up the Norrland coast," said Lund.
Temperatures will be cooler in the far north of the country.
Swedish vocabulary: a bonfire – ett bål
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