THE CEILING IS LOW IN SWEDEN'S PARLIAMENT

The only member of the center-right coalition in the Swedish Riksdag who voted against the FRA Act was Camilla Lindberg of the Liberal Party. The story of what flak she had to take for that is telling of the political climate in Sweden's national legislature.

'Soon you will have no friends left.' That was what Camilla Lindberg heard from her fellow members of the Liberal Party delegation to the Riksdag, as a result of her refusal to vote for the FRA Act. When the Riksdag voted on the FRA Act last week Camilla Lindberg was alone in voting no among the center-right coalition. Now she is revealing the threats she had to endure prior to the vote. Some of her fellows in the Liberal Party group made it clear to her that if she refused to fold to the party whip she would soon have no friends left in the group.

This is by no means a unique event in this respect. It is what Swedish politics is like. Conformity is a very strong character trait in Swedish culture and anyone who stands out - or stands up - is immediately the target of fold-or-scold attacks. In this particular case there was a rationale behind the attacks, albeit a perverted one, but more often than not the conformity culture conforms people just for the sake of conformity.

What makes me most disappointed is that they did not treat me as a grown-up... It does not help, at least not when it comes to me, to yell and scream. Quite the contrary.

This is likely the result of the fact that so many others wanted to vote with her but folded to pressure. Instead of reacting against those who were shoving the FRA Act down their throats, those political weaklings decided to take it out on whoever refused to cave in to pressure. Instead of supporting her they expressed a sort of perverted envy of how strong her backbone was. In a case where so much is at stake, this cultural instinct to curse the unconformed instead of the conformers has disastrous effects. It allows the government to move the country in a totalitarian direction merely because those who are supposed to be the people's watchdogs are more concerned with fitting in with their fellow politicians than to stand up for any sort of ideals.

It is unlikely that anyone like Camilla Lindberg, no matter the strength of her backbone, can endure the same kind of pressure again. When it comes to re-writing Sweden's constitution, this means that basically anything can sail through. Only a steadfast, unrelenting public opinion can prevent that constitutional reform from becoming an authoritarian tragedy.