"NeoCons" Win Sweden Elections(TimesUK)
:P Too funny,must be Bush`s fault.Even radical socialist Sweden gets it :P
Swedes turn to Right to reshape role of the state
SWEDEN’S centre-right alliance won a narrow general election victory to end 12 years of Social Democrat rule last night after a campaign dominated by the future direction of Europe’s most generous welfare state.
Fredrik Reinfeldt, the youthful right-wing leader likened to David Cameron for the way he dropped traditional policies to modernise his party, saw off the veteran Göran Persson, Europe’s second longest- serving Prime Minister.
Mr Reinfeldt, 41, based his appeal around reforming rather than overhauling Sweden’s social welfare system, with plans to cut the sickness benefits that account for 16 per cent of public spending.
His attack on Sweden’s hidden unemployment among the long-term sick, the early retired and those on pointless government schemes struck a chord with younger Swedes struggling to find work.
Mr Reinfeldt’s campaign was watched closely by centre-right parties across Europe, who will have been buoyed by the way that he beat the left on their home territory of popular state-funded health, education and social care services.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...RSS&attr=World