Even progressive, social-minded Sweden is seeing a political swing to the extremes with a September 9 election coming up which may see the Social Democrats for the first time since World War One not maintain top position. The economy came out of the financial crisis quickly and unemployment is low but the major worries are crime and immigration. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, and the ex-Communists of the Left party are expected to do well.
Gun and grenade violence and torching of cars is on the rise with the blame being landed on gangs, mainly first- and second-generation immigrants.
The Sweden chart, 7 December 1865 3.30 pm Stockholm, is moving through discouraging and unsettling times with their Sagittarius Sun undermined in 2018/2019 by tr Neptune square; as well as tr Saturn in hard-aspect to their idealistic T Square of Uranus opposition Jupiter Mercury square Neptune this year.
And it’s not getting easier ahead with an explosive, violent and insecure Solar Arc Uranus conjunct the Sweden Mars in 2020 as well as a brutal Solar Arc Mars conjunct Pluto; plus tr Uranus starts a three year upending of their solidly Fixed Saturn in Scorpio opposition Pluto.
This election will see tr Uranus sextile the Uranus and tr Saturn in opposition to Uranus, so there will be jolts and tensions.
Something I want to point out here is that the big story in Sweden this Summer were forest fires, which raged in much of rural Sweden for weeks in June and July. They needed to ask for help from fire units from as far away as France, Italy and Portugal to fight these fires. We had similar weather conditions in Finland – no rain at all from early May to late June, and then the warmest July ever, with 30° C temperatures registered beyond Arctic Circle for almost two weeks in July. Yet vwe had much more limited fires. I asked about this from relatives in forestry, and they told me that unlike in Finland, where we have a network of dirtroads running through forests, Swedes don’t have them.
However, the truly remarkable Summer with all the problems – fires, Baltic Sea and many lakes covered in alga, crop fail – will play a role here. Global Warminc was something most Nordic people believe in, but did not perceive as a threat until now. Now, it has really hit home.
Looks like a turn to the right is imminent for Sweden, with tr. Neptune dashing idealistic hopes and tr. Saturn pointing to a reactionary government.
Seems like this is a trend in a lot of national governments.
One could argue Social Democrates are the “reactionary” force in Sweden, ans Swedish Democrats the idealists.
Swedish politics is actually really undramatic. They are ruled by two fairly stable blocs, which are both Liberal. Even Sweden Democrats are Liberal in just about everything else but immigration – they are for gay marriage rights (though critical of adoptation outside family), social security and have made an effort to nominate women. They even called for other EU members to help with rioting (really, burning cars set on fire by first gen European led youth gangs) in Gothenburg suburbs.
However, Social Democrats, Left and Green parties form the Left Bloc, Moderates and Liberals the Right Bloc. Center Party has in the past collaborated with both blocs. Neither bloc wants Sweden Democrats in Government, and the best they can do is to hope for is to push a weak Government to a certain direction.
After these elections, Social Democrats will still remain the biggest party, and start government negociations. The main issue for them is to find a party to replace Greens, who risk staying under vote treshold. That said, Left Party has risen significatively in polls, and a “Traditional Right” is so weak at the moment that they can’t excersise effective Opposition Politics.