Future defence decisions and the Defence Commission's role

The party programme states that the Armed Forces need to be clearly embedded in democratic structures and that the people's political power is exercised by the Riksdag. A cross-party preparation process is precisely what gives the total defence direction democratic grounding, and the plan is at the same time critical of NATO's planning steering Swedish decisions. The counter-proposal's demand to preserve the process therefore aligns with the plan.

• democratic control over defencedecisive»vara tydligt inordnade i demokratiska strukturer.« (party programme ↗)“be clearly embedded in democratic structures.”
• the Riksdag's power»Folkets politiska makt över staten ska utövas av riksdagen« (party programme ↗)“The people's political power over the state should be exercised by the Riksdag”
• criticism of NATO steering»Därför är Vänsterpartiet motståndare till Sveriges allt djupare militära samarbete med NATO och EU, och vi är det enda riksdagspartiet som konsekvent värnar och vill återupprätta svensk alliansfrihet.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Therefore the Left Party is opposed to Sweden's increasingly deeper military cooperation with NATO and EU, and we are the only parliament party that consistently upholds and wants to restore Swedish military non-alignment.”
• popular grounding»Försvarsmakten spelar roller i samhället som innebär att de behöver« (party programme ↗)“The Armed Forces play roles in society which means they need”

The plan says nothing explicitly about the Defence Commission's role, but the party programme values representative democracy and democratic grounding of decisions highly, and the election manifesto builds defence as a strong people's defence. The manifesto also shows a clear will to seek broad agreements with other parties on strategic issues. From this follows support for the requirement to develop proposals on how the cross-party decision-making process can be preserved despite NATO membership.

• democratic grounding of decisionsdecisive»Den representativa demokratin är det mest effektiva demokratiska beslutssystemet.« (party programme ↗)“Representative democracy is the most effective democratic decision-making system.”
• defence rooted in the people»Sverige behöver bygga ett starkt folkförsvar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden needs to build a strong people's defence.”
• broad cross-party agreements»Efter valet vill vi se en ny energiöverenskommelse för Sveriges bästa, och vill därför föra energipolitiska samtal med andra partier om allt från vindkraft till kärnkraft.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“After the election we want to see a new energy agreement for Sweden's benefit, and therefore want to conduct energy policy discussions with other parties on everything from wind power to nuclear power.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The counter-proposal wants to protect a cross-party decision-making process that gives total defence democratic grounding. The plan's overarching principle is that common concerns shall be decided through openness, free debate and democratic decisions, and that international commitments must not move power away from elected representatives. The election manifesto's requirement for protection against rapid constitutional changes points in the same direction, even though the plan does not mention the defence commission.

• democratic considerationdecisive»Våra gemensamma angelägenheter ska hanteras med öppenhet, respekt, fri debatt och demokratiska beslut.« (party programme ↗)“Our common concerns shall be handled with openness, respect, free debate and democratic decisions.”
• parliamentary control of supranationality»Vi vill att medlemsländernas egna parlament ska ges reell möjlighet att kontrollera att EU inte fattar beslut utanför sina befogenheter.« (party programme ↗)“We want member states' own parliaments to be given a real opportunity to control that the EU does not make decisions outside its powers.”
• slow constitutional change»skydda Sveriges grundlag mot snabba förändringar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“protect Sweden's constitution against rapid changes.”
• participatory democracy»Vi tror på en demokrati med aktiva och delaktiga medborgare.« (party programme ↗)“We believe in a democracy with active and engaged citizens.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The election manifesto makes broad, long-term agreements with parties from both left and right a key working method and explicitly wants to protect the position of the opposition in the Riksdag. The counter-proposal's requirement for a proposal on how the cross-party decision-making process for total defence can be preserved after Nato membership is in line with that approach. However, the plan says nothing about the form of the Defence Commission.

• broad long-term agreementsdecisive»Vi värderar samarbete, ansvarstagande och resultat framför politiskt spel. Vi prioriterar långsiktiga, gemensamma lösningar med partier från både vänster och höger.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We value cooperation, responsibility-taking and results over political games. We prioritise long-term, joint solutions with parties from both left and right.”
• protect the position of the opposition»Våra demokratiska institutioner behöver skydd. Vi vill göra det svårare att ändra grundlagen, skydda oppositionens ställning i riksdagen och stärka domstolarnas oberoende.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Our democratic institutions need protection. We want to make it harder to change the constitution, protect the position of the opposition in the Riksdag and strengthen the independence of the courts.”
• cooperation across block borders»Det bästa för Sverige vore om fler partier hade mod att samarbeta över den traditionella blockgränsen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The best for Sweden would be if more parties had the courage to cooperate across the traditional block border.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan does not address the Defence Commission or how defence decisions shall be prepared. The nearest principle is that the responsibility for democracy's continuance ultimately lies with the citizens and that there is a need for more opportunities to follow the political process and influence decision-making. Based on that principle, preserving the cross-party decision-making process is close to the plan's view of democratic anchoring, but the evidence is weak.

• democratic anchoringdecisive»Ansvaret för demokratins fortlevnad ligger ytterst hos medborgarna själva.« (party programme ↗)“The responsibility for democracy's continuance ultimately lies with the citizens themselves.”
• transparency in the political process»möjligheter att följa den politiska processen och påverka beslutsfattandet.« (party programme ↗)“opportunities to follow the political process and influence decision-making.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The plan is based on the idea of human imperfection: no party owns the whole truth and too much power must not be placed in a single group's or a single party's hands. Defence shall moreover be anchored to the people through a general total defence obligation, and Sweden shall independently take a stance on participation in joint territorial defence. That valuing a cross-party decision process despite NATO membership follows from these commitments.

• no party owns the whole truthdecisive»inget politiskt parti ensamt står för den kompletta sanningen.« (party programme ↗)“no political party alone stands for the complete truth.”
• division of power necessary»makt inte får läggas i en enskild människas, grupps eller partis händer.« (party programme ↗)“power must not be placed in a single person's, group's or party's hands.”
• defence anchored to the people»Alla svenska medborgare ska omfattas av en total« (party programme ↗)“All Swedish citizens shall be covered by a total”
• national self-determination»självständigt få ta ställning till deltagande i ett eventuellt gemensamt territorialförsvar.« (party programme ↗)“independently take a stance on participation in a possible joint territorial defence.”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.

The documents say nothing about the Defence Commission or how the decision process for total defence should be organized. The closest commitments point to faster and more unified management – a national security council at the Office of the Prime Minister and that defence is prepared for NATO membership – rather than preserving a long cross-party preparation process. The position is therefore derived and uncertain.

• unified security leadershipdecisive»Inrätta ett nationellt säkerhetsråd på Statsrådsberedningen« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Establish a national security council at the Office of the Prime Minister”
• adaptation to NATO»Förbereda försvaret för svenskt Natomedlemskap« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Prepare defence for Swedish NATO membership”
• action before lengthy processes»en offensiv reformpolitik som på allvar kan ta itu med samhällsproblemen och få något gjort« (2022 manifesto ↗)“an offensive reform policy that can seriously tackle society's problems and get things done”

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The plan emphasizes that long-term determination is required to build a credible and sustainable defense and that financing should be guaranteed long-term, which requires a stable and broad decision-making process. The plan also wants to increase democratic legitimacy by bringing decisions closer to citizens and strengthening national self-determination. Developing a proposal for how the cross-party process is preserved despite NATO membership is in that direction, but the plan does not mention the preparation form.

• long-term determinationdecisive»Säkerhetsläget i omvärlden och närområdet har snabbt förvärrats under det gångna decenniet och långsiktig målmedvetenhet krävs för att säkerställa ett trovärdigt, modernt och uthålligt försvar som både är krigsavhållande och kan verka över tid.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The security situation in the world and region has rapidly deteriorated over the past decade and long-term determination is required to ensure a credible, modern and sustainable defense that both is a war deterrent and can act over time.”
• democratic legitimacy»För att öka den demokratiska legitimiteten bör beslut så långt det går föras närmre medborgarna.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“To increase democratic legitimacy, decisions should as far as possible be brought closer to citizens.”
• long-term financing»Garantera den långsiktiga finansieringen av ett starkt försvar« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Guarantee the long-term financing of a strong defense”
• national self-determination»Stärka det nationella självbestämmandet« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen national self-determination”

The plan takes no explicit position on what the committee actually decided — often because the committee's reason was procedural. The stance is derived and fully cited, but it does not show the party broke a commitment.