Transparency in the register of Riksdag members' financial interests

The plan counts the principle of public access and freedom of information among democracy's most important foundations and wants legal certainty to be upheld through public scrutiny and independent oversight. Publishing members' economic interests on the web is a practical application of that line. The plan also explicitly warns of how economic power is converted into political power via lobbyists, which strengthens the reasons for open disclosure.

• the principle of public accessdecisive»meddelarfriheten och offentlighetsprincipen« (party programme ↗)“freedom of information and the principle of public access”
• public scrutiny»insyn och oberoende granskning.« (party programme ↗)“public scrutiny and independent oversight.”
• counter economic power influence»Överklassen omsätter sin ekonomiska makt i politisk makt genom« (party programme ↗)“The upper class converts its economic power into political power through”
• greater public scrutiny»Vi vill gå mot en större samhällelig insyn« (party programme ↗)“We want to move towards greater public scrutiny”

The party programme lifts prevention of corruption and improper influence as its own goal for democracy, and the party wants to expand the principle of publicity to all publicly financed activities. To publish board members' economic interests on a website is a step in that direction: transparency becomes real instead of formal. The plan supports the counter-proposal's demands, even though the specific publication form is not mentioned.

• counter corruptiondecisive»Förhindrande av korruption och otillbörlig påverkan.« (party programme ↗)“Prevention of corruption and improper influence.”
• broad principle of publicity»Offentlighetsprincip i all offentligt finansierad verksamhet.« (party programme ↗)“Principle of publicity in all publicly financed activities.”
• expanded transparency»Offentlighetsprincipen ska gälla även privat vård och omsorg.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The principle of publicity shall apply also to private care and health services.”

The plan establishes that power shall be divided and always scrutinized critically, and that public access and transparency are foundations of democracy. Publishing members' financial interests on a website is precisely what makes such scrutiny practically possible for citizens. The plan also wishes to strengthen citizen influence, which presupposes easily accessible information about the elected representatives.

• power shall be critically scrutinizeddecisive»Överdriven maktkoncentration är odemokratiskt och korrumperar. Därför bör makt delas« (party programme ↗)“Excessive concentration of power is undemocratic and corrupts. Therefore, power should be divided”
• public access and transparency»offentlighetsprincipen samt meddelarfriheten ska gälla i hela unionen.« (party programme ↗)“the principle of public access and the right to disclose information shall apply throughout the union.”
• strengthened citizen influence»Vi i Miljöpartiet arbetar för att stärka och utveckla det medborgerliga inflytandet.« (party programme ↗)“We in the Green Party work to strengthen and develop citizen influence.”

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 requires that Sweden shall become even more transparent, with an anti-corruption agency, tightened anti-corruption rules and a lobby register. Publishing members' financial interests on the web is the same kind of transparency measure against conflict of interest and improper influence that the counter-proposal seeks. The party programme makes openness and transparency a basic prerequisite for preventing corruption.

• transparency against corruptiondecisive»Sverige ska bli ännu mer transparent. Vi vill inrätta en antikorruptionsmyndighet, skärpa regler mot korruption och införa ett lobbyregister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden shall become even more transparent. We want to establish an anti-corruption agency, tighten anti-corruption rules and introduce a lobby register.”
• openness prevents corruption»Öppenhet och transparens är grundförutsättningar för frihet, demokrati och för att förhindra korruption och övergrepp.« (party programme ↗)“Openness and transparency are basic prerequisites for freedom, democracy and for preventing corruption and abuse.”
• tightened rules against influence»De politiska partierna är sårbara mot påverkan och infiltration. Reglerna för finansiering av politiska partier bör skärpas och deras motståndskraft mot yttre påverkan och infiltration rustas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Political parties are vulnerable to influence and infiltration. Rules for financing political parties should be tightened and their resilience against external influence and infiltration strengthened.”
• openness as party ideal»Centerpartiet ska vara Sveriges mest öppna politiska parti.« (party programme ↗)“The Center Party shall be Sweden's most open political party.”

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 party programme states that diaries and public documents should to a greater extent be made available online to facilitate transparency, and that all public services that can be made digitally accessible at reasonable cost should also be made digitally accessible. Publishing elected officials' economic interests on a website is precisely this. The plan also demands regulation-based transparency about party financing, which rests on the same transparency thinking.

• documents accessible onlinedecisive»Diarier och allmänna handlingar bör i större utsträckning göras tillgängliga på nätet för att underlätta insyn.« (party programme ↗)“Diaries and public documents should to a greater extent be made available online to facilitate transparency.”
• digital accessibility as principle»En central princip är därför att alla offentliga funktioner som till en rimlig kostnad kan göras digitalt tillgängliga också ska göras digitalt tillgängliga.« (party programme ↗)“A central principle is therefore that all public functions that at reasonable cost can be made digitally accessible shall also be made digitally accessible.”
• transparency enables scrutiny»Offentlighetsprincipen har en grundläggande betydelse för att förankra och fördjupa folkstyret, och är en förutsättning för granskning och debatt.« (party programme ↗)“The principle of public access has a fundamental significance for anchoring and deepening popular government, and is a prerequisite for scrutiny and debate.”
• transparency about political financing»Partiernas skyldighet att redovisa källorna för sin finansiering ska vara reglerad i lag.« (party programme ↗)“Parties' obligation to disclose the sources of their financing shall be regulated by law.”

The stance rests on the quoted commitment in the party's own documents; the actual vote deviated. Click the quote to verify it in the document.

The party programme makes the principle of public access central to an open democracy and requires that secrecy be used restrictively, while there must be effective means against abuse of power. Publishing a register that is already a public record on a website makes transparency real and is therefore an application of these commitments. The plan's requirement to respect personal integrity when handling personal data sets a limit, but weighs less when it comes to elected representatives' own conflicts of interest.

• principle of public accessdecisive»Offentlighetsprincipen, det vill säga tillgången till allmänna handlingar, är central för en öppen och vital demokrati.« (party programme ↗)“The principle of public access, that is access to public records, is central to an open and vital democracy.”
• restrictive secrecy»Sekretessmöjligheten ska nyttjas restriktivt.« (party programme ↗)“Secrecy shall be used restrictively.”
• means against abuse of power»Det måste finnas effektiva medel mot maktmissbruk och maktkoncentration.« (party programme ↗)“There must be effective means against abuse of power and concentration of power.”
• protection for personal integrity»Den personliga integriteten ska ha ett starkt grundlagsskydd och det offentliga måste tillämpa stor försiktighet och respekt för den personliga integriteten vid hantering av personuppgifter.« (party programme ↗)“Personal integrity shall have strong constitutional protection and the public must apply great caution and respect for personal integrity when handling personal data.”

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 says nothing about the register of members' financial interests. The nearest commitments are to clarify how responsibility can be demanded for public decisions and to sharpen civil servant liability, and the principle that public power shall be subject to constitutional, political and media scrutiny. Publishing the data on a website makes such scrutiny easier and is thus in line with the plan, even if without explicit support.

• accountability for public decisionsdecisive»Vi ser stora behov av att förstärka domstolarnas oberoende och förtydliga hur ansvar kan utkrävas för offentliga beslut.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We see major needs to strengthen the independence of the courts and clarify how responsibility can be demanded for public decisions.”
• scrutiny of public power»Den är lagstyrd, professionell och underkastad konstitutionell, politisk« (party programme ↗)“It is statutory, professional and subject to constitutional, political”
• sharpened civil servant liability»Skärpa tjänstemannaansvaret så att du som skattebetalare vet att med all offentlig maktutövning följer ett ansvar för de beslut som fattas« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sharpen civil servant liability so you as a taxpayer know that all public exercise of power is followed by responsibility for the decisions made”

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's democracy section establishes that measures should be taken to increase transparency and the possibility of political accountability, and that official responsibility should be introduced. Publishing members' financial interests on a website is such a transparency measure. The plan also wants to counter systems that invite fraud and corruption. Therefore, the plan supports the counter-proposal's demands.

• increased transparency and accountabilitydecisive»Tjänstemannaansvar ska införas och åtgärder ska genomföras för att öka transparensen och möjligheten att utkräva politiskt ansvarsutkrävande.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Official responsibility shall be introduced and measures shall be taken to increase transparency and the possibility to demand political accountability.”
• counter corruption-promoting systems»Både fusk och sådana system som tenderar att locka till fusk och korruption ska motverkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Both fraud and systems that tend to invite fraud and corruption should be countered.”
• accountability for public funds»Sverigedemokraterna vill stärka möjligheter för ansvarsutkrävande när hanteringen av de offentliga resurserna brister.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden Democrats want to strengthen possibilities for accountability when the management of public resources fails.”

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.