Public ownership

The plan wants to take back societally important activities and infrastructure that have been privatized and step by step strengthen public ownership in the economy's key sectors. A constitutional protection requiring qualified majority or two decisions with an intervening election before public property is sold off protects precisely that. The plan also wants to strengthen public benefit and keep profit interests out of welfare.

• reclaim privatized activitiesdecisive»Det är hög tid att agera och ta tillbaka den samhällsviktiga verksamhet och infrastruktur som har privatiserats.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is high time to act and take back the societally important activities and infrastructure that have been privatized.”
• strengthened public ownership»I nyckelsektorer som finans, infrastruktur, bostäder och energiförsörjning« (party programme ↗)“In key sectors such as finance, infrastructure, housing and energy supply”
• strengthened public benefit»Den gemensamt ägda Allmännyttan behöver stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“The public-owned Public Benefit sector needs to be strengthened.”
• welfare without profit interests»Vänsterpartiet vill införa ett totalförbud mot alla vinstdrivande verksamhetsformer inom välfärden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The Left Party wants to introduce a total ban on all profit-driven forms of activity within welfare.”

The election manifesto wants to stop the dismantling of welfare privatization and regain democratic control over welfare and establishes that no acute hospitals shall be sold, while the party programme sees strong public benefit enterprises as necessary. Protection against sales of jointly owned property aligns with that commitment. At the same time the party programme gives municipalities and regions freedom to choose operational model, which pulls in the other direction.

• stop welfare privatization dismantlingdecisive»Det är dags att ta tillbaka den demokratiska kontrollen över välfärden och att stoppa sönderprivatiseringen.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“It is time to regain democratic control over welfare and to stop the dismantling of welfare privatization.”
• no sale of acute hospitals»Inga akutsjukhus ska säljas ut.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“No acute hospitals shall be sold off.”
• protect public benefit»Starka allmännyttiga och kooperativa företag är nödvändiga för att« (party programme ↗)“Strong public benefit and cooperative enterprises are necessary for”
• municipal freedom over operational model»De politiskt beslutande församlingarna i kommuner och landsting ska ha frihet att för de« (party programme ↗)“The politically decision-making assemblies in municipalities and county councils shall have freedom to for the”

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 states that university hospitals shall continue to be operated in public ownership, that tenant ownership and a regulated rental market shall be valued and that the high conversion rate has created major problems. It also wants to protect the constitution against rapid changes. Constitutional protection that makes rapid sales of jointly owned property more difficult thus aligns with the plan.

• public operation shall continuedecisive»Universitetssjukhus ska fortsatt drivas i offentlig regi.« (party programme ↗)“University hospitals shall continue to be operated in public ownership.”
• criticism of sales»Den höga ombildningstakten från hyresrätt till bostadsrätt i storstadsområdena har ställt till stora problem.« (party programme ↗)“The high conversion rate from tenant ownership to owner-occupation in metropolitan areas has created major problems.”
• valued public benefit and tenant ownership»det särskilt viktigt att värna hyresrätten och en« (party programme ↗)“it is especially important to value tenant ownership and a”
• constitution against rapid decisions»skydda Sveriges grundlag mot snabba förändringar.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“protect Sweden's constitution against rapid changes.”

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 constitutionally protect commonly owned property and require a qualified majority for sales. The plan's concept of ownership is the opposite: private ownership is central, public activities can advantageously be exposed to competition and it is seen as positive that businesses and civil society are involved in developing welfare. That the party wants to make the constitution harder to change applies to the protection of freedoms and rights, not public ownership.

• private ownership at the centredecisive»Äganderätten är central för ett samhälle där människor kan förverkliga sig själva och sina drömmar.« (party programme ↗)“Property rights are central to a society where people can realise themselves and their dreams.”
• competition exposure possible»Offentlig verksamhet kan med fördel konkurrensutsättas« (party programme ↗)“Public activities can advantageously be exposed to competition”
• diversity of providers»Det är positivt att både företag, offentliga institutioner och civilsamhället är med och utvecklar« (party programme ↗)“It is positive that both businesses, public institutions and civil society are involved in developing”
• constitution protects rights»Vi vill göra det svårare att ändra grundlagen, skydda oppositionens ställning i riksdagen och stärka domstolarnas oberoende.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“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.”

The party programme explicitly establishes that the public sector shall only conduct commercial activities when there is a strong public interest and that the state shall not own airlines, banks, and telecommunications companies. The counter-proposal's constitutional protection with a requirement for qualified majority for sale would lock in public ownership that the plan conversely wants to limit. The election manifesto additionally wants municipal housing companies to convert rental apartments to owner-occupied apartments in vulnerable areas.

• limited public ownershipdecisive»Det offentliga ska endast driva affärsverksamhet om det finns ett starkt samhällsintresse.« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall only conduct commercial activities if there is a strong public interest.”
• the state shall divest of companies»Staten ska inte äga flygbolag, banker och telebolag.« (party programme ↗)“The state shall not own airlines, banks, and telecommunications companies.”
• conversion of social housing»Kommunala bostadsbolag ska både arbeta för att fler hyresrätter i utsatta områden omvandlas till bostadsrätter och för att få fler med egen försörjning och färre med försörjningsstöd att flytta till utsatta områden.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Municipal housing companies shall both work to convert more rental apartments to owner-occupied apartments in vulnerable areas and to get more people with independent income and fewer with maintenance support to move to vulnerable areas.”
• no crowding-out ownership»Det offentliga ska inte driva verksamheter som tränger ut fungerande privata alternativ eller försvårar nyföretagande.« (party programme ↗)“The public sector shall not conduct activities that crowd out functioning private alternatives or hinder new enterprise.”

The plan wants personal ownership to be encouraged at the expense of institutional ownership and that the public sector's operations as far as possible be based on the absence of monopolies, with equal terms for welfare services in private management. A constitutional protection that in practice locks in commonly owned property goes against this and also limits the municipal self-determination that the plan wants to be strong. That sales occur at reduced prices is a control matter, not a reason for constitutional barriers.

• personal ownership encourageddecisive»Det är också angeläget att det personliga ägandet uppmuntras på bekostnad av det institutionella ägandet.« (party programme ↗)“It is also important that personal ownership is encouraged at the expense of institutional ownership.”
• absence of public monopolies»offentliga sektorns verksamhetsformer ska så långt möjligt bygga på frånvaro av monopol.« (party programme ↗)“public sector operations shall as far as possible be based on the absence of monopolies.”
• equal terms for private provision»förutsättningar som tjänster producerade i offentlig regi.« (party programme ↗)“conditions as services produced in public management.”
• strong municipal self-determination»Den kommunala självstyrelsen ska vara stark« (party programme ↗)“Municipal self-determination shall be strong”

The plan goes in the opposite direction: it wants to sell off a larger share of state holdings and is based on the premise that private ownership disperses power and that property rights and business freedom shall have strong constitutional protection — for the individual, not for public assets. To constitutionally restrict the sale of commonly owned property would also lock in the diversity of service providers that the plan sees as a prerequisite for renewal in welfare. The demand therefore lacks support in the plan.

• divest state ownershipdecisive»Sälja av en större andel av statliga Sveaskogs innehav till personer med regional anknytning« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sell off a larger share of the state-owned Sveaskog holdings to persons with regional connection”
• strong individual property rights»Där äganderätten undergrävs, där undergrävs alltid friheten.« (party programme ↗)“Where property rights are undermined, freedom is always undermined.”
• constitutional protection for individual property rights»Äganderätten och näringsfriheten ska ha ett starkt skydd i« (party programme ↗)“Property rights and business freedom shall have strong protection in”
• diversity of service providers»En mångfald av aktörer är också en förutsättning för förnyelse och innovation.« (party programme ↗)“A diversity of actors is also a prerequisite for renewal and innovation.”

The plan takes an explicitly pragmatic approach to forms of ownership: what matters is not who performs the task but that citizens get the greatest possible benefit at the lowest cost, and the question should be decided case by case. A general constitutional protection requiring a qualified majority to sell jointly owned property locks the question in place once and for all. However, the plan wants strategic sectors such as electricity and water distribution to be under strong societal control, which points partially in the opposite direction.

• pragmatic on forms of ownershipdecisive»Det viktigaste för oss är i de flesta fall inte vem som utför en specifik uppgift utan att uppgiften utförs på ett sätt som renderar medborgarna största möjliga nytta till lägsta möjliga kostnad.« (party programme ↗)“What is most important to us in most cases is not who performs a specific task but that the task is performed in a way that provides citizens with the greatest possible benefit at the lowest possible cost.”
• case-by-case review»eftersträvar vi att avgöra ifrån fall till fall med hjälp av tidigare erfarenheter, forskningsresultat och sunt förnuft« (party programme ↗)“we strive to decide case by case with the help of previous experience, research results and common sense”
• choice in welfare»Sverigedemokraterna ser att marknadsekonomi, valfrihet inom välfärden och internationell handel gynnar samhället och är viktigt att försvara« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Sweden-democrats see that market economy, choice in welfare and international trade benefit society and are important to defend”
• strategic sectors under societal control»Även andra sektorer av central strategisk och säkerhetspolitisk betydelse, såsom el- och vattendistributionen, bör stå under stark samhällskontroll.« (party programme ↗)“Other sectors of central strategic and security-political importance, such as electricity and water distribution, should be under strong societal control.”