The government and the Sweden Democrats want the Riksdag to be called in during the summer to be able to push through as much as possible of the Tidö parties’ policies before the election.
– Our demand is quite reasonable, says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M).
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson believes that it is reasonable that the Riksdag should be allowed to work this summer.
Photo: SVEN LINDWALL
Since a couple of weeks ago, the government holds double government meetings every week, one on Tuesdays and one on regular Thursdays.
According to Ulf Kristersson, it is to catch up with all the bills that are to be put on the Riksdag’s table during the election year.
– It builds up to a request for the Riksdag to work in the summer, so that the Riksdag has time to process all the proposals. Ultimately, the Riksdag must take a position on it, of course, but our demand is quite reasonable, says Kristersson.
Among other things, there are about 60 proposals from the Ministry of Justice to be processed.
Question to the Speaker
Together with SD, the government has sent in a letter to the Speaker, who will then hold discussions with the other parties in the Riksdag.
The Riksdag usually closes in mid-June and does not formally open until after the election on 13 September.
If the request goes through, the Tidö parties, according to information to TT, foresee the committees starting work on bills at the end of July and then producing clear reports around mid-August, so that the Riksdag can vote in the last week of August.
– We put a lot of work into speeding up reforms for which we believe there is great support. Then we also want the Riksdag to take a slightly shorter summer vacation, says Kristersson.
He mentions, among other things, the criminal justice reform and laws such as “Lex Little Heart”.
Campaign in constituencies
During the summer, especially during an election year, members of parliament are often out in their constituencies and campaigning.
When asked how popular this would be among the members, the prime minister replied:
– It probably depends on how you look at the reforms. There are certainly some reforms that you don’t want to implement, so you might want to postpone them.
According to reports, the request has caused irritation within the Social Democrats, who point out that the government previously had plenty of time to put bills on the Riksdag’s table and that the members are already summoned to vote during weekends.
