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“The social democratic strategy can almost be compared to a family stupor. Who has made these seemingly inhuman decisions? “Jimmie Åkesson of the Swedish Democrats asked in a Facebook post about the crown crisis in June.
The leader of the Christian Democracy party, Ebba Busch, said that “Sweden has bravely allowed a wide spread of the infection.”
The government cooperation parties also distanced themselves. The Center Party called for a new crown strategy and Nyamko Sabuni of the liberals criticized Stefan Löfven for his leadership weakness.
Confidence in both the government and the opposition plummeted in the early summer and the political consensus at the start of the pandemic collapsed.
Throughout the spring, all party leaders attended meetings with the prime minister and received information on the crisis and the planned decisions.
If the other party leaders had raised their voices, they could have changed their strategy while there was time. Jimmie Åkesson (SD) certainly demanded closed schools and Ulf Kristersson (M) of the moderates later in the spring increased the tests. But with those exceptions, peace prevailed.
Today, the crisis is not as serious as last spring. Far fewer people are cared for in hospitals and the death rate is much lower. But the spread of the infection is increasing again and more patients are being hospitalized. The number of hospitalized covid-19 patients in regular wards increased from 173 to 227 in one week. In Europe, the pandemic is becoming increasingly serious.
In this situation, the government presents flexibility of the strategy. The advice to people 70 and older, which in a new report is estimated to have saved around 1,300 lives this spring, is relaxed and the limit is raised from 50 to 300 people for the audience seated at events.
Anyone who remembers the political debate early in the summer he could have expected strong criticism from the opposition. But not quite. This fall, criticism has been directed at overly harsh rules that threaten the survival of cultural companies and institutions.
All parties are probably aware that despite the 5,930 deaths in Sweden, there is strong support for the corona strategy. In MSB’s opinion poll in early September, two in three Swedes believe the measures are well balanced between public health considerations and the country’s economy.
The opposition also has issues that the parties would prefer to discuss in this situation, M and SD want to talk about migration and crime, KD about health care and care for the elderly and V about safety in the labor market.
“The stakes are high now, take no chances,” Stefan Löfven urged residents on Thursday afternoon. The question is how politicians will react if that call is not enough. Will there be a new reassurance or new accusations of spreading the infection with courage?
