Lotta Gröning: Liberalerna har raserat sig själva

Lotta Gröning editorial director at Times Welcome Thank you Liberalerna have received the lowest figures in a survey conducted by Ekot The historical share for a certain parliamentary election is 1.4 percent Can the Liberals secure this figure I think it will be difficult I think it will be extremely difficult We can definitely count on losing support votes I mean they'd have to secure a very large number of supporting votes from another party or from multiple other parties to get there up to 4% thresholds They're trying after all ensively with this it's some kind of popcorn policy because it just keeps spitting out ideas and Next suggestions and what needs to be done I think it's gone so far that they've become utterly uninteresting to even consider unfortunately At the time they me The People's Party saw that he received quite a few votes What on earth has happened really They were a popular movement party They were strong out in the countryside and also in the cities They were strong Regions with strong religious traditions such as Västerbotten and Jönköping remain deeply rooted In Västerbotten they had over 70% of the moose They fought for agriculture and fought for defense They fought for The alcohol ban that they'd introduce it as well Very much like going back But then they've also been incredibly strong Generally speaking one should also consider the support for democracy They've had school as an issue for a long time now It was indeed liberal women who began establishing schools Women and so on It was liberal women who led the charge for suffrage and so on They have undoubtedly played an extraordinary role in Sweden's development Yet they have become exclusively a major city party They're entirely focused on the Sweden Democrats They've essentially abandoned the countryside and now they're fighting among themselves Well perhaps the biggest problem is that we keep killing each other internally They can't blame the media or claim voters are foolish or say nobody understands them Instead He has single-handedly destroyed his entire party Whether or not the Liberals lose their seat in the Riksdag in the upcoming election What do you think it will take for the liberals to make a comeback I believe they must What they would need to do It's about replacing the party leadership When these internal conflicts arise they're very much like It's the urban policymakers who dictate the politics And if you look back now from here One might say Bengt Westerberg All nearly all liberal politicians who have had Knowledge and the ability to handle difficult situations—after all they've left the party Thus a group of quite inexperienced politicians remains Those who are loyal And I usually Well I can imagine it like this: when a ship is about to sink for It's not loyalty that's most important but rather the need for fresh thinking It requires questioning old decisions and finding alternative solutions But there's certainly none of that among the liberals They're just clinging to their stance They absolutely must not cooperate with the SD They believe that they This small faction will be able to influence the entire spectrum of other time parties and set the agenda and No it's very sad and I can also feel sorry for Mo Hamsson because she hasn't had an easy time I don't think she's had the support she needed either and besides she was extremely inexperienced So that she has now entered into this e general urban elite in politics has taken exclusive control of urban yes an urban policy that fails to see people out in the countryside at all An extraordinary general meeting will be held soon How much do you think could change before the election Yes I think they must surely do something radical Now you mostly see that they are They're criticizing everyone who criticizes them and thinks the media is dumb and so on That just doesn't hold up Without having to explicitly indicate self-criticism one must simply reflect on the matter itself Can the far-right party demonstrate that it holds any significance in Swedish politics I'm not sure about that Otherwise they'd have to change many political decisions One part of the argument for opposing support is that we do not back the Sweden Democrats in a government How do you see it I think it's a crazy line Because if you look at it Thus the Liberals have criticized the Sweden Democrats for 15 years ever since they entered Parliament They've constantly criticized them even though the agreement also included cooperation over time Men so they could see that they have made a difference as they have also contributed to the rise of the Sweden Democrats They've become more open-minded They've essentially removed the worst decisions They've actually gained a dialogue that enables them as they've contributed to actual progress rather than just sitting around criticizing a party It's very difficult to claim that a party that is the country's third or second larges and exclude their voters dismissing them as foolish while pretending they don't exist So it's impossible It can't be done In this survey conducted on behalf of Sveriges Radio Ekot the red-green coalition naturally ends up w The conservatives receive 52.9% while the liberals get 45.6% Removing the Liberals from this equation with their current 1.4% leaves the center-right parties So at 44.2% What do you think What do those figures suggest about the coming months How do you think this might change I know they don't say anything They're saying absolutely nothing Just look at the so-called red-green coalition—there's total civil war among them too The Green Party should not support a Social Democratic government that wants nuclear power Moreover one of the most influential figures within the Social Democratic Party has now stated that we may need nuclear weapons The center absolutely must not support a social democratic government with the left in power There's nothing worthwhile—absolutely nothing not even on the opposition's side The sea is raging I tell you as I gaze upon the entire expanse I don't quite understand There's no one not even Ulf Krister who's going to have a problem Magdalena Andersson is in trouble Right now we don't know anything at all Depending on the election results we receive a new election could quickly follow if nothing else is resolved Now we just have no cooperation—only individual statements and total chaos that's what I think about politics Moreover they also have a very harsh exchange with each other Do you really think any of the parties will shift their position now so close to the election In most cases it's clearly the Liberals I'm not sure about Center Party They're next in line to end up in the same position as the Liberals You can't be such a small party and expect to dictate to everyone else It won't work—then you're just overestimating yourself too much I also don't believe in cooperation across party lines between the Social Democrats and the Moderates They want the Social Democrats out so they want the Sweden Democrats gone I don't believe it given that the Moderates and Kristersson have gained so much from SD They work quite well together I don't think they'd give them up outright Social Democrats have now officially declared SD their main opponent You can just advertise it and focus instead on the Left and Center Parties as well as the Green Party Is there any possibility of a coalition government between the Social Democrats the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats No I actually don't do that The Christian Democrats are also under scrutiny right now I don't think they'll ever sit down with a Social Democratic government—they're just too far apart What needs to happen in the coming months for us to have a government after the election Do you have any leads No I don't know anything In that case the parties must surely start reflecting and reconsidering They're clearly building a policy that polarizes so it must inevitably become a policy promoting greater cooperation Now people are thinking only about their own best interests not Sweden's That's extremely deeply sad Moreover all parties are losing huge numbers of members—they no longer have grassroots connections Voters now get all the information through media outlets that follow a strategy of maximizing division and polarization because the more divided the public becomes the more readers they attract I don't know what might happen