The elections of September 1979 registered a narrow victory of the parties of the government bloc and led, after the resignation of O. Ullsten, to the establishment of a cabinet headed by T. Fälldin and composed of liberals, centrists and moderates, which he could count on a majority of one seat. In March 1980 a referendum was held on nuclear power plants in which the population expressed itself in favor of a moderate and limited expansion program in time. The parties of the recomposed coalition, as had happened in the previous legislature, continued to be divided by traditional conflicts, which prevented them from expressing a common program and finding an agreement in particular on the economic policy measures to be adopted to deal with the high rate. inflation, the foreign debt and the decline in production, the most evident manifestations of the crisis that had hit the country. The moderates remained in favor of a decidedly deflationary line, questioning the policy of social welfare and proposed to reduce taxation and severely limit public spending, while the centrists and especially the liberals showed much less confidence in the effectiveness of a pure market economy. In May 1981 the moderates left the government, however guaranteeing external support to the minority cabinet led by T. Fälldin himself.
According to indexdotcom, new internal conflicts, mainly related to fiscal policy, further wore down the coalition already pressed by the lively opposition of the left, by the initiatives of the union, which could count on an extremely solid and widespread organization, as well as obviously by the problems posed by the economic crisis. In September 1982, political elections were held which marked the return of the Social Democrats to power. In fact, they won 45% of the votes and 166 of the 349 seats. The minority government formed by O. Palme in October was able to count on the external support of the Communists, who had obtained 20 seats in the electoral consultation.
After devaluing the crown by 16%, the government launched a series of anti-crisis measures to reduce inflation, restore competitiveness to exports, improve the exploitation of internal resources and decrease unemployment, whose rate (3.2%) was still one of the lowest among the industrialized countries. The set of measures proved to be effective on the whole and already in 1983 the economic situation showed evident signs of improvement. The Palme government also proposed and started the establishment of ” wage earners ” funds, five of a regional nature, financed through the taxation of profits, controlled by the trade unions and aimed at the purchase of shareholdings in the main private companies. L’ initiative aroused the hostile reaction of industrial associations and of the center and right parties, who saw in it a sort of socialization of the economy, even if it must be emphasized that one of the declared objectives of the plan was to make it an instrument for controlling the dynamics salary. In foreign policy, negotiations for the creation of a nuclear-free Nordic zone were intensified, but they met with resistance from a substantial part of the Norwegian political forces. The government was also particularly active in all international initiatives for peace and the reduction of arms. Sweden further increased its cooperation commitment with Third World countries. be emphasized that one of the stated objectives of the plan was to make it a tool for controlling wage dynamics. In foreign policy, negotiations for the creation of a nuclear-free Nordic zone were intensified, but they met with resistance from a substantial part of the Norwegian political forces. The government was also particularly active in all international initiatives for peace and the reduction of arms. Sweden further increased its cooperation commitment with Third World countries. The government was also particularly active in all international initiatives for peace and the reduction of arms. Sweden further increased its cooperation commitment with Third World countries. The government was also particularly active in all international initiatives for peace and the reduction of arms. Sweden further increased its cooperation commitment with Third World countries.
The political elections of 1985 confirmed the left majority, even if the Social Democrats and Communists lost 8 seats overall, while among the opposition parties only the liberals increased their votes, obtaining a clear success (they went from 21 to 51 seats) and characterizing themselves more and more for a compromise program between a conservative economic policy and the defense of the welfare state. On February 28, 1986, O. Palme was murdered in Stockholm in an attack whose circumstances remained unclear, despite investigations also conducted by various parliamentary commissions. In March 1986, I. Carlsson was appointed prime minister and then chairman of the Social Democratic Party, which made no significant changes to his predecessor’s policy.
In 1987, the results of a parliamentary commission on arms trafficking caused widespread sensation, highlighting irregularities in the sale of arms to countries at war in violation of the severely restrictive provisions in force. In January 1988, the government entered into an agreement with the Soviet Union on territorial sea limits and fishing rights in the Baltic. The agreement closed a phase of difficult relations between the two countries, also marked by moments of acute tension especially in the early 1980s in relation to the repeated violations of Swedish territorial waters by Soviet submarines.
In the general elections of September 1988 the Social Democrats, despite the loss of three seats, confirmed themselves as the governing force of the country with the support of the Communists who increased their representation by two seats, while the Greens entered Parliament for the first time. The new government chaired by Carlsson attempted to initiate a policy of economic austerity by introducing conflicting measures to reduce public spending and state intervention in the economy. These political choices, together with the worsening of the economic situation (a recessionary phase hit the country starting from 1990), contributed to the defeat of the Social Democrats who in the 1991 elections, while remaining the party with a relative majority, went from 175 to 138 seats.. Even their traditional allies, who by 1990 had eliminated the term communist from the denomination of their party, obtained a modest electoral result, as did the Greens who failed to reach the 4% necessary to enter Parliament. The winner of the elections was the conservative coalition led by the moderate party and comprising the center party, the liberals and the Christian Democratic party. Taken together, these parties won 46.6% of the votes and 170 seats. New Democracy, a far-right populist party formed in 1991, also won 25 seats and assured the new government, chaired by the moderate C. Bildt, the external support it needed to reach a majority.
The conservative coalition initiated a neo-liberal policy centered on privatization of state-owned companies, deregulation of the labor market, cuts in social spending and reducing the tax burden. The containment of the inflation rate, which fell in 1992 to 2.2% (the lowest in the last twenty years), was not matched by a recovery of the economy, also due to the strenuous defense of the krona exchange rate and the consequent rise in prices. interest rates. In November 1992, the Social Democrats, who had initially supported some government measures in defense of the crown, refused to support further cuts in public spending, resuming stronger opposition, and the Swedish currency, left free to float, devalued by 10%. The government, supported by an increasingly fragile majority due to the uncertain support of the New Democracy, it confirmed its economic policy of austerity, but without obtaining the desired results. In fact, all the indicators continued to be negative: GDP fell by 4% in the first six months of 1993, the budget deficit reached 12% of GDP and above all unemployment, a phenomenon essentially unknown to the Swedes, reached a rate of 8.2%. In February 1994 New Democracy, crossed by a profound internal crisis, definitively withdrew its support for the government, which saw its popularity gradually decrease in the country. In fact, all the indicators continued to be negative: GDP fell by 4% in the first six months of 1993, the budget deficit reached 12% of GDP and above all unemployment, a phenomenon essentially unknown to the Swedes, reached a rate of 8.2%. In February 1994 New Democracy, crossed by a profound internal crisis, definitively withdrew its support for the government, which saw its popularity gradually decrease in the country. In fact, all the indicators continued to be negative: GDP fell by 4% in the first six months of 1993, the budget deficit reached 12% of GDP and above all unemployment, a phenomenon essentially unknown to the Swedes, reached a rate of 8.2%. In February 1994 New Democracy, crossed by a profound internal crisis, definitively withdrew its support for the government, which saw its popularity gradually decrease in the country.
The political elections of 18 September 1994 registered a clear victory for the Social Democrats, who won 161 seats, compared to 138 in the previous election. The other parties of the left also saw their support increased: the former Communists of the Left Party, with 22 seats (16 in the previous elections), obtained the best result since 1948 and the Greens returned to Parliament by winning 18 seats. The parties of the old coalition lost a total of 22 seats, and only the moderate party managed to keep its votes; New Democracy, on the other hand, did not reach the quorum, reaching 1.23% of the votes. The new Parliament, which recorded further growth in female representation (41% of seats), following a constitutional amendment, will last four years. In October, Carlsson started a minority government, half made up of women ministers, on a program of economic austerity (debt stabilization and reduction of the public deficit), albeit tempered by a redistribution of fiscal burdens and a project for the youth employment. The new cabinet did not, at the time of its establishment, have the support of traditional allies, even though the Left Party voted, in November, in favor of the first economic measures launched by the government. On November 13, 1994, with a referendum (52% of votes in favor), the accession of the Sweden to the European Union was approved, formalized on January 1, 1995. Thus ended a long and conflicting path that had strongly divided the country and the parties themselves.
