SLICK SOCIALIST LEADER SAYS NO - AND YES - TO FRA ACT

The big Swedish socialist party skillfully avoided getting in to the FRA Act skirmishes when the act was up for a vote in the Riksdag. They declared clearly that they were going to vote no, but did not spell out exactly what they wanted to do. Now their new leader Mona Sahlin, has this to say:

If [there is a vote] on the bill that was in the Riksdag, then we will remove the act and change it. When we vote in the Riksdag it is for real [sic] and if we win the next election we will also do it differently.

She does, of course, not spell out exactly what this means. As a general approach she says that she wants "more transparency for the people" and then concludes with an ominous statement. She wants to change the premises for the FRA surveillance:

[I want them to] not just poke their finger in to the cables and see what they find, but instead search for what they see as suspicion of a crime.

In other words: all she wants to do is tell the FRA to define their search parameters as "looking for indications of possible crimes" or some such thing. And that's all. She does not want to end the surveillance system, nor does she want to shrink it. All she wants is a token gesture to show people that she is concerned.

It is uncertain whether Mrs. Sahlin's position on this has been made clear to those in the small, radical Left Party, who were very vocally against the FRA Act and will run on abolishing this law in 2010. Since they cannot gain any significant influence without tagging on to the big socialists to form a parliamentary majority, they will not be able to keep their promises to do away with the FRA Act. This could prove as damaging to them as the act will be to the small members of the incumbent center-right coalition.