• Home
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Elections
  • Resources
  • Videos
  • Links
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Denmark
  • European Union
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Norway
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • UK
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Elections
    • Australia
    • Austria
    • Denmark
    • European Union
    • Finland
    • Germany
    • Norway
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • UK
  • Resources
  • Videos
  • Links

Vote for a green and enterprising future

September 17, 2010

Our endorsement for the Swedish general election 2010

 

On Sunday, 19th September, Swedes will elect a new Parliament and with it a new governing coalition. As one of the world’s most developed countries (if not THE most developed), we have a special interest in endorsing the political party and the coalition that, we believe, will keep Sweden as an example of equitable economic and social progress.  

During the last four years, the governing centre-right Alliance coalition –composed of the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, the Liberal People’s Party and the Christian Democrats–, has taken Sweden into a new era of responsible economic growth without forgetting the essential component that makes Sweden unique: an equitable distribution of the rewards of success.

At a time when most countries in Europe are still struggling to get the economy back on track after the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression, Sweden’s economic indicators are looking strong: GDP is growing robustly, unemployment is continuing to fall (the unemployment rate dropped to 7.4 per cent in August from 9.5 per cent in June), and the budget is heading into surplus in 2011. But that is not all. Sweden has become the fastest-growing economy in Western Europe.  This remarkable economic success story has been possible thanks to the Alliance’s competent and responsible economic management, creating incentives for companies to hire, cutting red tape and unnecessary regulations, keeping markets open, making it easier for individuals to work than to collect welfare and reducing taxes on lower-income individuals.  

But progress has not only been materialised on the economic front. During this Alliance government, Parliament approved marriage equality, with all the Alliance parties (with the exception of the Christian Democrats) voting in favour. Not only did the Moderates, the Centre Party and the Liberal People’s Party campaign for this legislation, but they also resisted any attempt by their junior coalition partner, the Christian Democrats, to make changes to the bill. On education, the Alliance has promoted the inclusion of more private providers to increase choice, competition and quality –a policy that has been adopted by Britain’s newly formed Liberal-Conservative coalition government.     

 

On the other hand, Sweden’s Social Democrats –one of the most successful political parties in the history of western democracies–, seem to have lost their way. They have formed a centre-left coalition with the Greens and, to their leader’s discontent, with the former communist Left Party. This so-called “Red-Greens” coalition has been unstable from the beginning, mainly due to the extreme statist past of the ex-communists. The three parties seem unable to agree on a comprehensive program for government and the addition of the Left Party has tilted what would otherwise be a competent Social Democrat/Green alternative to the Alliance into an unstable left-leaning group of mutually suspicious partners.

This move by the Social Democrats has not been unnoticed by the electorate. The party is on course to get their lowest share of the vote in its history, losing also the title of most voted party to the Moderates for the first time.

 

In this scenario, we strongly believe the centre-right, liberal-conservative Alliance coalition and Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt deserve four more years of government.

We want to see this liberal shift in Swedish politics continue for the next four years, and that is why RealLibs.com endorses the Alliance as our preferred coalition. Now, within the Alliance, we also want to endorse the political party we believe is the best exponent of a liberal vision of Sweden. There are two parties within the Alliance that could be described as liberal in philosophy (although, in our view, the Moderates are not far from qualifying for that title as well): The Centre Party (Centerpartiet) and the Liberal People’s Party (Folkpartiet Liberalerna). Both parties are members of the ELDR party (and the ALDE group) in the European Parliament and the Liberal International. Even when both parties support all the basic tenets of liberalism, we believe one of them represents the true, forward-looking spirit of liberalism: the Centre Party.

 

The Centre Party’s “green liberalism” is the type of liberalism we at RealLibs.com want in the 21st century. The Centre Party is one of the strongest advocates of entrepreneurialism and environmentalism in Sweden and, most importantly, unlike the left, the Centre Party understands these two topics are not mutually exclusive, but, on the contrary, need each other. The biggest challenge facing humanity in our age is climate change and environmental degradation. We will only be able to solve the climate and environmental challenge through human innovation and creativity. That’s the history of humankind. Solving climate change will demand the combined work of scientists and entrepreneurs, developing new ideas to reduce our destructive impact on this planet. That’s our vision of a green future. And that’s the Centre Party’s vision as well.

Are we saying that the state has no role in reducing carbon emissions and regulating businesses’ polluting activities? No. We do support responsible government regulations that help reduce our carbon footprint, making polluters pay their fair share. In fact, we have always advocated for carbon taxes, to help accelerate the transition to renewable sources of energy. What we are saying is that, unlike the left, we don’t think the state has all the answers. We believe in a combination of state and market action to speed up the transition towards a more sustainable future.      

This belief is at the heart of the Centre Party. The party’s “green liberalism” is the type of liberalism we want to see spreading throughout the world. That’s why, as the Alliance's green choice, RealLibs.com proudly endorses the Centre Party for Sunday’s general election. 


 For more information on the Centre Party (Centerpartiet), visit www.centerpartiet.se 




 

Posted by A.H..

 

The lesser of two evils? No.

August 19, 2010
     

We choose the best option for Australia. We choose the Greens.

For many years, Australia has caught the imagination of the entire world in different ways. Whether for its amazing natural beauty, the kindness of its multicultural society or its highly developed economy, Australia is one of those hard-to-forget places in the world.  Now, what does this have to do with politics and, particularly, liberalism? In many ways, Australia is an example of liberalism. The country’s econo...


Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

We need a liberal Netherlands at the heart of a liberal Europe.

June 9, 2010

On Wednesday, June 9th, Dutch voters will go the polls to choose a new Parliament. As one of the most progressive and liberal societies in the world, the decision the Netherlands makes today is very important for those of us who care about liberty, openness and human rights. While we believe Dutch voters will, in the end, make a wise choice, there are threats to the values liberals so deeply care about. In this occasion, the major threat comes from the extremist and xenophobic PVV –also (...


Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

It’s time for real change. It’s time for real fairness.

May 3, 2010

Our endorsement for the UK general election 2010

We are in the final days of what has –unexpectedly but fortunately- become the most unpredictable and exciting election campaign in the United Kingdom in
decades. Among the most important features of this campaign season is the excitement that the election has produced on British voters. According to different sources, turnout in this election could be as high as it was in 1997, when more than seventy per cent of voters went to the polls to ...


Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

Germany can do better: Vote for the FDP

September 26, 2009

German voters are set to choose a new Parliament and, with it, a new governing coalition for the next four years. When analyzing our political endorsement –and due to the nature of the German political system-, RealLibs.com decided to make two endorsements: the first one, to choose our preferred political party and leader; the second one, to choose which kind of governing coalition we’d like to see. ?

 

The first endorsement shouldn’t be too difficult to guess. As our name indicates, am...


Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

A brief analysis of the German election

September 26, 2009

By Alejandro Honeker

Germany prepares to choose a new Parliament on Sunday and, according to the latest polls, anything could happen. First of all, let’s mention this (believe me, it’s going to be easier later on): Black = Christian Democrats (CDU) --or, more exactly, CDU+CSU--, red = Social Democrats (SPD), yellow = liberals (FDP), and green equals, well, green. Since no party is considering a coalition with the far-left Left Party, we’ll leave it out of the equation. In order to form g...


Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

Lib Dem Conference 2009 - Last Day

September 26, 2009

 UK Bellow the video of Nick Clegg's speech to the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth, plus a LibDem video:

 Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats




 Liberal Democrats and Political Change



LibDems.org.uk   A Fresh Start for Britain  
Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

Lib Dem Conference - Day 4

September 23, 2009

 UK   Tuesday's highlights:

 Baroness Scott



 Shami Chakrabarti 

 
Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

Lib Dems back "A Fresh Start for Britain"

September 23, 2009
 UK  The Liberal Democrat Conference on Tuesday backed the party's programme for the upcoming general election titled "A Fresh Start for Britain: Choosing a Different, Better Future." The main policy items present in the plan are: 

- Investing in green jobs and fighting climate change
- Cutting taxes for people on low and middle incomes, funded by closing loopholes for the wealthy and green taxes
- Breaking up the banks to prevent them taking risks which threaten the whole economy
- Investing in ...
Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 

Michael Ignatieff on the economy

September 23, 2009
 Canada  Michael Ignatieff, the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, shared the party's plans for the economy with the Toronto Board of Trade


Continue reading...

Posted by A.H..

 
« Newer posts
Older posts »
 
Subscribe to this blog   Subscribe to this blog
 

Blog Archive

  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • November 2016
  • July 2016

Tags

albert rivera alex sink alliance alliansen america american american values americas anders samuelsen andrew cuomo angela merkel argentina ari arlen specter australia australian democrats authoritarianism av referendum barack obama benjamin netanyahu boris johnson britain cambiemos cameron canada cdu center-right centerpartiet centre party centrist charlie crist citizens ciudadanos civic coalition civil liberties classical classical liberalism climate climate change coalition congress conservatism conservative conservatives convention d66 david cameron defence democracy democrat democratic democratic party democrats democrats 66 dems denmark discrimination donald trump ecuador ed miliband eldr election elections elisa carrio emmanuel macron endorsement environment equal marriage equality erna solberg eu eu referendum europe european union eurozone fascism fdp financial markets florida folkpartiet france fredrik reinfeldt free trade freedom freedom fighter freedom to marry gay marriage gay rights germany gladstone globalization gop gordon brown governor green green liberalism greens guido westerwelle gun control hate crimes hatnuah hayek helle thorning schmidt helle thorning-schmidt henrique capriles hillary clinton house hugo chavez human rights høyre ignatieff immigration individualism intolérance iran iron lady israel italy jeb bush john kasich jon huntsman judicial activism justin trudeau labor labour labour party lars lokke rasmussen leadership leave lgbt lib dems libcon liberal liberal alliance liberal democracy liberal democrats liberal party liberal-conservative liberalism liberals libertarian liberty lincoln chafee london malcolm turnbull mandela margaret thatcher mariano rajoy mario monti mauricio macri media mexico michael ignatieff middle east midterm mitt romney moderate moderaterna moderation nationalism nato ndp nelson mandela netherlands new nick clegg norway palestine parliament partido popular party patricia bullrich peace pier luigi bersani politics populism president primaries prime minister pro progressive pvda radical radical centrism radikale vestre rafael correa reallibs regulation remain republican republican party republicans rhode island right wing ronald reagan security senate silvio berlusconi snp social democrats social liberals spain spd spending stephen harper sverige sweden taxes terrorism thatcher thatcherism theresa may tolerance tories tory tribute tv tzipi livni uk uk conservatives uk general election union for all united kingdom united states us venezuela vince cable vvd william jennings bryan william mckinley world xenophobia york 2013

realLibs.com 2018 | >About Us | @Contact Us | +Site Map

Make a free website with Yola