The election campaign kicks off for real
From the start of August, the campaign ahead of the election on September 13th will kick into full gear. While the parties launched their election tours across the country at the end of July, many will still be taking place in the first few weeks of August.
Party activists, meanwhile, will be on the streets handing out leaflets and knocking on doors, while party leaders will be all over the media doing interviews and taking part in debates.
At the end of the month, the political parties will set up their valstugor election cabins in town squares across the country.
From August 20th, Swedish citizens based overseas will be able to vote in a Swedish embassy or consulate, from August 26th, early voting polling stations will open, and from August 30th, citizens overseas will be able to vote by post.
Parliament to vote on prison for 14-year-olds and teen deportations
MPs are being called back to parliament on August 12th and August 13th for a special summer session to debate and vote through several key laws. This is an extremely unusual move from the government which argues it was necessary to pass key laws in its political programme before the election.
The highest profile law up for a vote is the proposal to cut the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and institute a network of youth prisons. The government had planned to set the new age at 13, but withdrew the proposal when it realised that too many MPs for the Liberal Party were likely to vote against it for it to pass.
The other key bill in criminal justice is a proposal to bring in a new criminal sentencing system, largely abolishing non-custodial options like probation (skyddstillsyn) and suspended sentences (villkorlig dom), leaving mainly fines and prison.
The law removes the general legal presumption that prison should be avoided whenever possible and abolishes the discount that criminals get if found guilty of multiple crimes. Parliament will both debate and vote on this bill on August 13th.
Finally, MPs will vote on tightening the requirements for family reunion, increasing the maintenance requirement and imposing a two-year wait before someone can apply to bring their relatives to Sweden. This bill will also change the age at which people can be classed as dependents from 18 to 21 in a solution to the issue of teen deportations.
The Social Insurance Committee will meet on August 11th to prepare the family reunion bill, while the Justice Committee will meet on August 12th. The
Parliament will then close down and will not open again officially until September 29th.
New laws coming into force
Several new laws come into force on August 1st, including:
- Double penalties for crimes committed as part of a criminal network. This new law will double penalties for crimes deemed to have been performed on behalf of or in connection with a criminal network and also increases punishments for some other crimes.
- New requirement to block fraud calls. Under this law, mobile phone companies will be required to block calls and sms messages suspected of being part of a fraudulent scheme.
- Improved military cooperation: This new law will make it easier for Sweden's Nato allies to conduct military activities for deterrence and defence on Swedish territory
- Phone free schools. A new law called 'better conditions for safety and calm for study' will institute a national ban on mobile phones in schools, increases school heads' ability to punish rowdy pupils by excluding them from the classroom, moving them to a new class, or suspending them from the school.
Back to school... and work
Swedes start heading back to the office after their summer holidays, with Monday July 27th and Monday August 3rd likely to be the big return days this year. The majority of workers take at least a couple of weeks off during July, with many taking three or even four. This means that replies to all those unanswered emails you've sent over the last month will start ticking into your inbox as people return to their desks.
The autumn semester in schools and universities gets under way in August and early September, although the exact date depends on where in Sweden you live. Schools in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö are all back on August 17th this year.
Events and traditions
There are a couple of festivals happening this month – music festival Way out West in Gothenburg from August 13th-15th, and Malmöfestivalen between August 7th and 14th.
Unfortunately there are no public holidays in August, although this doesn't mean there's nothing to celebrate.
The crayfish season officially starts on August 6th this year, so be prepared for crayfish-themed decorations to start popping up in your local supermarket, and find some friends (preferably with access to a summer house) to hold your very own kräftskiva (crayfish party).
As with most Swedish celebrations, expect drinking songs, lots of snaps, crispbread, cheese, and most likely some sort of västerbottenpaj – a quiche featuring Sweden's favourite cheese, västerbottensost.