A CHECKLIST FOR THE OPPOSITION
The polls show that the Swedish centre-right opposition is in pretty decent position to challenge
the socialists for an election win in 2006. Of course, it isn't unusual for the opposition to look
strong in mid-term, and in Sweden they have lost almost every election in the last 70 years. What will
it take to win? I've put together a little list of the three most important things.
1. Bring back the ideas in the debate.
The ideas and values, and the goal for government, has been missing in the Swedish political debate for
a very long time. It's not all that peculiar that people feel that all the parties are the same, when they
all appear to share the same goals. The opposition should try to bring this dimension back into the debate,
and show that the big welfare state maybe isn't the only way to go. They should paint out their view of a more
liberal Sweden, with positive pictures of how they would like things to be. Also, they should not back out
when the socialists claim that their way of ruling would punish those who doesn't work. It would, and they
ought to admit it, and in fact defend it. They should make a strong point about that the ultimate responsibility
for the welfare of the citizens isn't the government's to carry but the citizen's themself's.
2. Put together a thought through program that would be possible to perform quickly after an election victory.
The opposition needs to prove to the people that they are able to govern responsibly. They need to have detailed
reforms prepared that they've agreed on, and that they could put into effect fairly fast. Instead of just pointing
out all the problems with the Social Democratic lack of action, however valid these points are, they should instead
focus on what they want to do. If questioned, they must be prepared to answer questions of detail, buy they should
generally avoid getting too bogged down on technical issues, and instead paint a wider picture.
3. A healthy dose of populism
The opposition should put some focus on questions where the failures of the government are obvious and where
the solutions are simple. Things like the unresposible energy policies (people do pay for electricity and
therefore mind it when the price goes up), the lack of policemen, the non-existing defense, the lacking education,
the long queues in the health care system and things like that. Pick a few of these issues and make a strong and
easy to sell case.
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