Government U-turn on Top Jobs

In Britain whenever a new government is elected there is what is known as 'the honeymoon period'. It's that time when the electorate loves the government and everyone is full of hope and optimism that things really are going to get better.

I wonder what happened to the Swedish Government. Did they not have a honeymoon, or is it that we, the people, were not invited?

First there was the fact that the new cabinet had enough skeletons in its collective closet to fill a graveyard, and then there has been the fiasco regarding changes to the property taxes, which has left potential buyers and sellers alike in a state of limbo regarding their future economy. Next there was the governments’ handling of the Mohammed cartoon and the changes to the provisions for people who are long term sick. And now a complete U-turn on the policy of making the hiring of people to top jobs transparent in open.

Appointing your own people to the top jobs is a way of building a political power base to spread the government influence throughout the broadest range. It serves the government, not the people. Maud Oloffson of the Centre Party says, that in other countries this would be called corruption. I disagree somewhat since all governments do this, so I doubt she would find many European leaders to agree with her. And, let’s be fair, the government is just continuing the traditions of the previous government.

No, what the real issue is that the government said one thing before the election and is saying another thing now. That is at best misleading the electorate and does not help to increase people’s confidence in a government which is already failing to shine.