EU parliament election debates

The eight top candidates for the EU parliament election debated yesterday on television and today on the radio. It seems they are well poised to represent Sweden in the parliament where apparently no party wip is used and more of the individual aspects of the candidate will be forthcoming. However, on television it seemed like they were willing to work for free. I don't understand why they don't realize they are about to have important jobs that are valued and paid accordingly?

Gunnar Hökmark gave a very good comment concerning the claims of Miljöpartiet and Vänsterpartiet that since they had voted against the EU their claims would amount to zero. Also the accusations by Marita Ulvskog that EU is promoting "job trafficking" were distasteful. Making the job issue such a prominent feature of their campaign, the Socialdemokrater apparently are trying to surf the wave of the financial crisis in a very low, opportunistic and anti-government fashion.

Marit Paulsen, Ella Bohlin, Gunnar Hökmark and Lena Ek all made knowledgable contributions to the debates and I have begun understanding the issues that were brought up by the election. I think Folkpartiet Liberalerna will get my vote. They deal in schools and research that I as an academic have opinions about. Lars Leijonborg has made a great job in securing the ESS facility to Sweden and the important Öresundsregion that is of sufficient size that it will probably overtake the Stockholm area as the most vibrant area of Scandinavia. Cecilia Malmström, Nyamko Sabuni and Birgitta Ohlsson are hardworking and competent people I have followed in the press. I also feel that Folkpartiet is enthusiastic about EU and that is important.

As I discussed earlier I'm probably more of a liberal than conservative so I ought to belong to this group in the EU parliament. The legacy of the Swedish Folkparti of being critical against Fascism and Communism during World War II is also something I was impressed by. Wikipedia features a cool poster of the 1936 election where someone is brushing tendencies of dictatorship out of their house. My experience tells me this line of work is still important.

I have followed Fredrik Malm on his blog for a while now. He is number four on the list of Folkpartiet. I will make a cross on my ticket for him. He seems intelligent and hardworking and would represent a new fresh spirit for a European career.