GOTHENBURG, Sweden—A Swedish member of Parliament has resigned, saying democracy in Sweden has been on a downhill slide since the 1970s.
“Parliament is being drained of its power entirely,” economist and conservative MP Ann-Marie Pålsson told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Sweden’s Constitution was changed 40 years ago, at the time the two-chamber Parliament collapsed into a single-chamber.
Pålsson has set up a nonpartisan network that will include one representative from each party. The network’s mission is to debate the role of Parliament and the direction of democracy in Sweden.
In Sweden, party discipline—a system in which all representatives of a party vote the same way on every issue in Parliament—is enforced by a party whip and those who go against the party line are unlikely to remain in Parliament after the next election.
Once elected, the party elite will decide what posts MPs are assigned to, which committees they end up on and more. Loyalty to the party line is essential for a successful political career. This is considered to be a major drawback of the Swedish system, from a democratic point of view.
Liberal MP Camilla Lindberg, said she felt ostracized after voting against the party line on a very controversial issue regarding electronic surveillance.
“There is discontent among MP’s who feel that they are supposed to behave like a flock of sheep,” Lindberg told Swedish news agency TT.
The network is not created for MP’s alone, said Pålsson, although it has an important role to fill as support for ostracized MP’s like Camilla Lindberg.
“Parliament is being drained of its power entirely,” economist and conservative MP Ann-Marie Pålsson told Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
Sweden’s Constitution was changed 40 years ago, at the time the two-chamber Parliament collapsed into a single-chamber.
Pålsson has set up a nonpartisan network that will include one representative from each party. The network’s mission is to debate the role of Parliament and the direction of democracy in Sweden.
In Sweden, party discipline—a system in which all representatives of a party vote the same way on every issue in Parliament—is enforced by a party whip and those who go against the party line are unlikely to remain in Parliament after the next election.
Once elected, the party elite will decide what posts MPs are assigned to, which committees they end up on and more. Loyalty to the party line is essential for a successful political career. This is considered to be a major drawback of the Swedish system, from a democratic point of view.
Liberal MP Camilla Lindberg, said she felt ostracized after voting against the party line on a very controversial issue regarding electronic surveillance.
“There is discontent among MP’s who feel that they are supposed to behave like a flock of sheep,” Lindberg told Swedish news agency TT.
The network is not created for MP’s alone, said Pålsson, although it has an important role to fill as support for ostracized MP’s like Camilla Lindberg.
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