Making decisions publicly accessible

The plan wants greater societal transparency and states that legal security is maintained through citizen oversight and independent scrutiny. Removing a sweeping exception for total defense from the requirement to make decisions public follows from that, as does the requirement that the Armed Forces are clearly embedded in democratic structures with functioning accountability. The plan furthermore wants Sweden to act independently in relation to the USA.

• increased societal transparencydecisive»Vi vill gå mot en större samhällelig insyn« (party programme ↗)“We want greater societal transparency”
• oversight and independent scrutiny»Rättssäkerheten behöver upprätthållas genom rättshjälp, medborgerlig« (party programme ↗)“Legal security needs to be maintained through legal aid, citizen”
• defense under democratic control»vara tydligt inordnade i demokratiska strukturer. Det ställer också« (party programme ↗)“be clearly embedded in democratic structures. That also”
• independence from the USA»Det är viktigt att Sverige kan agera självständigt från stormakter som« (party programme ↗)“It is important that Sweden can act independently from superpowers such as”

The plan requires strong resilience through significant military capacity and preparedness against hybrid attacks, which speaks for not making protected total defence tasks accessible. To remove the exception for total defence, as the counter-proposal demands, goes against that commitment. The plan's general requirement for openness principle in publicly financed activities pulls in the other direction, why the assessment is uncertain.

• strengthened defence capacitydecisive»Stark motståndskraft i hela samhället genom betydande militär förmåga, stark svensk försvarsindustri och god civil beredskap.« (party programme ↗)“Strong resilience throughout society through significant military capacity, strong Swedish defence industry and good civil preparedness.”
• protection against hybrid threats»Beredskap mot hybridattacker.« (party programme ↗)“Preparedness against hybrid attacks.”
• resistance to influence»Arbetet för att stärka förmågan att stå emot cyberattacker och desinformation ska stärkas.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“The work to strengthen the capacity to resist cyberattacks and disinformation shall be strengthened.”
• the openness principle»Offentlighetsprincip i all offentligt finansierad verksamhet.« (party programme ↗)“Openness principle in all publicly financed activities.”

The plan demands that the principle of public access and freedom of disclosure are cherished and strengthened and that citizens shall always be able to scrutinize power. A sweeping exemption for total defence from the requirement to make decisions accessible goes against that commitment, which is why the counter-proposal's demand to remove the exemption is supported. The plan also emphasizes good public insight and transparency in the exercise of public power.

• strengthened principle of public accessdecisive»Offentlighetsprincipen och meddelarfriheten måste värnas och stärkas.« (party programme ↗)“The principle of public access and freedom of disclosure must be cherished and strengthened.”
• scrutiny of power»Medborgarna ska alltid kunna granska makten.« (party programme ↗)“Citizens shall always be able to scrutinize power.”
• public insight»Det ska finnas god medborgerlig insyn i all rättskipande och rättsvårdande verksamhet« (party programme ↗)“There shall be good public insight into all judicial and legal proceedings”
• transparency in public power»Detta kräver transparens och öppenhet såväl som ett effektivt och välfungerande rättsväsen som har allmänhetens förtroende.« (party programme ↗)“This requires transparency and openness as well as an effective and well-functioning judicial system that has public confidence.”

The election manifesto wishes to make Sweden even more transparent and the party programme makes openness a precondition for freedom and democracy and against corruption. A sweeping exception for total defence from the requirement to make decisions accessible conflicts with that line. The plan's demand for a strengthened defence justifies some protection, but not a general exception.

• increased transparencydecisive»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 wish to establish an anti-corruption agency, tighten rules against corruption and introduce a lobby register.”
• openness against corruption»Öppenhet och transparens är grundförutsättningar för frihet, demokrati och för att förhindra korruption och övergrepp.« (party programme ↗)“Openness and transparency are fundamental preconditions for freedom, democracy and to prevent corruption and abuse.”
• public access and informant rights»För oss är de grundlagsskyddade fri- och rättigheterna, som exempelvis yttrande-, tryck- och meddelarfrihet, självklara och ska garanteras.« (party programme ↗)“For us the constitutionally protected rights and freedoms, such as freedom of speech, press and informant rights, are self-evident and shall be guaranteed.”
• strengthened defence capacity»Vi vill rusta det militära försvaret snabbt, kraftfullt och långsiktigt.« (2022 manifesto ↗)“We wish to strengthen military defence rapidly, powerfully and long-term.”

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 requires significantly stronger defence with appropriations of at least two per cent of GDP and views strategic assets in democratic countries explicitly in a security policy perspective, which speaks for exempting protected information about total defence from publication. The plan gives the principle of public access fundamental importance at the same time and wants more documents made accessible, so the balance is uncertain. To completely remove the total defence exception has however no support in the plan.

• significantly increased defence appropriationsdecisive»försvarsanslaget öka till minst två procent av bruttonationalprodukten« (party programme ↗)“defence appropriations increase to at least two per cent of gross domestic product”
• security policy perspective on strategic assets»Den utveckling där odemokratiska eller rentav totalitära stater förvärvar strategiska tillgångar i« (party programme ↗)“The development where undemocratic or indeed totalitarian states acquire strategic assets in”
• strengthened civil defence»det civila försvaret stärkas i samma takt som det militära« (2022 manifesto ↗)“civil defence is strengthened at the same pace as military defence”
• value of public access»Offentlighetsprincipen har en grundläggande betydelse för att förankra och fördjupa folkstyret,« (party programme ↗)“The principle of public access has fundamental importance for anchoring and deepening democracy,”

flags: osaker_avvagning

The plan establishes that the principle of public access is central to an open and vital democracy and that secrecy provisions shall be used restrictively, which speaks against a broad exception for total defence. At the same time, the plan requires total defence with sufficient resources and protection against current military threats, which gives some support to the exception. The requirement for restrictive secrecy is the more specific commitment and therefore weighs more heavily, but the evidence is weak.

• restrictive secrecydecisive»Sekretessmöjligheten ska nyttjas restriktivt.« (party programme ↗)“Secrecy provisions shall be used restrictively.”
• the principle of public access»Offentlighetsprincipen, det vill säga tillgången till« (party programme ↗)“The principle of public access, that is access to”
• strong total defence»Det samlade totalförsvaret måste ha tillräckliga re« (party programme ↗)“The collective total defence must have sufficient re”
• protected information»Den personliga integriteten ska ha ett starkt« (party programme ↗)“Personal integrity shall have strong”

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 remove the exception for total defence from the requirement to make decisions publicly available. The plan is based on the state's integrity and defence capability being the most fundamental task and wants to strengthen defence intelligence capability and protection against espionage and foreign power. Openly publishing decisions concerning total defence goes against these commitments, although the plan otherwise values transparency and accountability in public activities.

• state integrity fundamentaldecisive»Att upprätthålla den svenska statens integritet« (party programme ↗)“To maintain the integrity of the Swedish state”
• strengthened intelligence capability»Stärka försvarsunderrättelseförmågan« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Strengthen defence intelligence capability”
• protection against foreign powers»Ge företag som är engagerade i säkerhetskänslig verksamhet bättre stöd från staten att kunna möta cyberattacker, spionage och stöldförsök från främmande makt« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Provide better state support to companies engaged in security-sensitive activities to meet cyber attacks, espionage and theft attempts from foreign powers”
• protected total defence planning»Säkra en långsiktig planering för det civila försvaret« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Secure long-term planning for civil defence”

The plan sees defence as the ultimate guarantor of national freedom and counts national security among the state's core tasks. Removing the exemption for total defence would mean that protected information becomes public and thus weakens defence capability, which contradicts the plan's demand for a total defence equipped for war. The plan furthermore emphasises that Sweden must prepare for the deteriorated security situation in the immediate region.

• defence as ultimate guarantordecisive»Sverigedemokraterna ser det militära försvaret som den yttersta garanten för bevarandet av vår demokrati, vår frihet, vårt nationella självbestämmande och vår kulturella särart.« (party programme ↗)“Sweden Democrats see military defence as the ultimate guarantor for the preservation of our democracy, our freedom, our national self-determination and our cultural distinctiveness.”
• total defence equipped for war»Återupprätta ett totalförsvar som är rustat för krig« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Re-establish a total defence equipped for war”
• security as core task»Till statens kärnuppgifter räknar vi alla frågor som rör nationens säkerhet och oberoende« (party programme ↗)“To the state's core tasks we count all matters concerning the nation's security and independence”
• heightened security situation»Rusta Sverige inför en ny säkerhetspolitisk situation i vårt närområde« (2022 manifesto ↗)“Prepare Sweden for a new security policy situation in our immediate region”