Sweden's main opposition party, the Social Democrats, on Monday began the search for a new leader tasked with restoring the party's political fortunes after two election defeats. Party leader Mona Sahlin, 53, said Sunday she would step down at a party conference in March, saying it was time to hand over to a "new" pair of hands.
Sahlin - a seasoned politician who became a member of parliament back in 1982 and has held several cabinet posts - said the party also needed to develop new policies on the economy, jobs and welfare.
Her announcement followed an unprecedented period of party bickering. Various factions had openly blamed each other for the party's poorest showing in decades in September elections.
"We have not seen any like this, looking back (in party history)," said Gothenburg University political science professor Peter Esiasson.
In 2010, the Social Democrats garnered just over 30 percent of the vote - their weakest result since 1914, and only just sufficient to retain their position as the country's largest party ahead of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's conservative Moderate Party.
In 2007 Sahlin became the party's first female leader since it was founded in 1889, and was seen as a welcome change to her predecessor Goran Persson who critics regarded as heavy-handed and bossy.
Her tenure has been short by party standards, and unlike previous leaders, she will not have led the party in government.
In the run-up to the September elections Sahlin formed a coalition with the Greens and the Left Party in an attempt to unseat Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition. Reinfeldt's coalition was formed in 2003 with the aim of defeating the then governing Social Democrats.
Traditionally, the Social Democrats have avoided such close co-operation and following the election defeat, the red-green co-operation has frayed.
Observers such as Aftonbladet columnist Lena Melin have said Sahlin had likely initially planned only to work with the Greens, but protests from leftist factions forced her to include the Left Party.
This weakened her authority and complicated negotiations on issues ranging from tax rates to Swedish troops in Afghanistan. The party also failed to tackle issues outstanding from Persson's era and the 2006 election defeat.
Part of that failure was due to the strong support the red-greens scored in opinion polls during most of the four-year period leading up to the September 2010 elections.
Sahlin announced after the 2010 election defeat that a crisis commission would study where the party had failed. Critics feared this would not lead to sufficient changes in a leadership which was also blamed for failing to connect with voters, especially workers. The dissent soon resulted in calls for members of the party leadership to resign.
Sahlin tried to stem the tide by urging all members of the party board, including herself, to offer their seats for re-election. With Sahlin preparing to make an exit, speculation about her successor is in full swing.
A favourite in many quarters is former European Commissioner Margot Wallstrom. Wallstrom, now United Nations special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, quickly stated she was not a candidate. But after Wallstrom there are no clear contenders, reflecting part of the party's problems. Bookmaker Ladbrokes' had parliamentary group leader Sven-Erik Osterberg, a former cabinet member, as lead candidate while rival company Unibet had parliamentarian Veronica Palm ahead.
No one contacted by local media has expressed interest in running, and a nomination committee has yet to begin its work.
Meanwhile, the party faithful can eye experiences from sister parties in neighbouring Denmark and Norway.
Both parties suffered electoral losses in 2001. In Denmark, the Social Democrats have remained in opposition since and have twice changed party leader. In Norway, the Labour Party bounced back in 2005 and have since led the government in a red-green coalition.
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