| Parliament name (generic / translated) |
Riksdagen / Parliament |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
17 September 2006 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
Sweden voted on 17 September 2006 to elect a new parliament.
In the last elections held in September 2002
the ruling Social Democratic Party (SAP)
which had ruled the country for most of the period since 1932
won 144 of the 349 seats. The SAP refused to enter into a coalition with the Left Party (VP) and the Greens (Mpg)
mainly because of their opposition to Sweden's membership of the European Union. SAP leader and Prime Minister
Mr. Göran Persson
subsequently formed a minority government that relied on the support of the VP and the Mpg to pass its legislation.
Four opposition centre-right parties won a total of 158 seats in 2002: the Moderate Party
55 seats
the Liberal Party (FP)
48; the Christian Democratic Party (Kd)
33; and the Centre Party (CP)
22 seats. In August 2004
they formed a coalition called the Alliance for Sweden. Although the parties fielded candidates separately in the 2006 elections
they put forward a single candidate for the post of prime minister
Mr. Fredrik Reinfeldt
and presented a common manifesto entitled "More people at work - more to share".
The country's membership of NATO and its generous welfare system were the main electoral issues in 2006. While the SAP argued for maintenance of neutrality
the Alliance for Sweden called for Swedish membership of NATO. The Alliance pledged to reform Sweden's cradle-to-grave welfare policy by cutting employers' taxes and unemployment benefits. The SAP accused the opposition of wanting to destroy the welfare state.
In September 2006
the secretary of the FP resigned over a scandal involving a worker of its youth branch
who had obtained a copy of the SAP's electoral strategy by hacking into the SAP computer network. The incident created a scandal in the country that partly overshadowed the election campaign.
A total of 81.99 per cent of the 6.9 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
The SAP lost 14 seats
although it remained the largest party with 130 seats. Conversely
the Moderate Party increased its seats to 97
winning 42 more seats than in the 2002 elections. The FP
badly damaged by the hacking scandal
lost 20 seats
winning 28. The CP and the Kd won 29 and 24 seats respectively
thus giving the Alliance for Sweden a narrow majority in the new parliament with 178 seats.
Prime Minister Göran Persson accepted defeat and resigned on 17 September 2006. On the following day
the outgoing Speaker of parliament
Mr. Björn von Sydow
asked Mr. Reinfeldt to form a new government. Mr. Reinfeldt subsequently formed a centre-right coalition government with the parties that made up the Alliance for Sweden. His government took office on 6 October 2006.
The newly-elected Parliament held its first session on 2 October 2006 and elected Mr. Per Westerberg of the Moderate Party as its new Speaker. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 17 September 2006 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
6'892'009
5'650'416 (81.99%)
99'138
5'551'278 |
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of votes |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Candidates |
Votes |
|
|
% |
Gain/Loss |
|
| Social Democratic Party (SAP) |
|
1'942'625 |
|
|
34.99 |
-4.86 |
|
| Moderate Party (M) |
|
1'456'014 |
|
|
26.23 |
10.97 |
|
| Centre Party (CP) |
|
437'389 |
|
|
7.88 |
1.69 |
|
| Liberal Party (FP) |
|
418'395 |
|
|
7.54 |
-5.85 |
|
| Christian Democratic Party (Kd) |
|
365'998 |
|
|
6.59 |
-2.56 |
|
| Left Party (VP) |
|
324'722 |
|
|
5.85 |
-2.54 |
|
| Green Party (Mpg) |
|
291'121 |
|
|
5.24 |
0.59 |
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Gain/Loss |
Number of women |
|
|
| Social Democratic Party (SAP) |
130
|
-14 |
65 |
|
|
| Moderate Party (M) |
97
|
42 |
42 |
|
|
| Centre Party (CP) |
29
|
7 |
11 |
|
|
| Liberal Party (FP) |
28
|
-20 |
14 |
|
|
| Christian Democratic Party (Kd) |
24
|
-9 |
9 |
|
|
| Left Party (VP) |
22
|
-8 |
14 |
|
|
| Green Party (Mpg) |
19
|
2 |
10 |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
184
165
47.28%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Sources:
- Parliament (28.09.2006
01.01.2008
01.01.2010)
- http://www.riksdagen.se
- http://www.val.se/in_english/index.html
Distribution of seats according to age:
18 to 29 years: 17
30 to 39 years: 64
40 to 49 years: 106
50 to 59 years: 127
60 to 69 years: 31
70 to 80 years: 4 |
Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module
