Speech by the Speaker

TALMANNEN

Honorable members! We in the newly elected Speaker's presidency are deeply honored and very pleased by the confidence the House has shown us.

The Riksdag is the people's primary representative, so to be a member of the Swedish Riksdag is to hold perhaps the finest trust mandate one can receive in our country. To, in addition, receive the trust to lead the Riksdag's work in the capacity of Speaker or Deputy Speaker is an opportunity and a responsibility that obligates. Many thanks!

It has been more than 40 years since a Speaker was last re-elected for a third term, and it was at that time that we still had three-year election periods. I am humbly grateful to have received this unusual confidence and will strive to the utmost to continue to be the Speaker of the entire Parliament. Even though I have not received all members' votes today, my aspiration and hope is that through my way of exercising the office of Speaker, I can maintain all members' confidence.

Everything that happens in this chamber naturally has a political dimension, including the election of the Speaker. But being the Speaker is simultaneously to bear a highly personal mandate of trust. When the parliamentary rules were written, this was expressed by that the election should be conducted with closed ballots, not through an open, electronic vote.

The parties nominate candidates for Speaker, but every Member of Parliament has one vote in the secret ballot. No one can therefore know if a Member of Parliament deviates from the party line because that Member has a different opinion than their party regarding who is suitable to be Speaker.

This stands in sharp contrast to the prime ministerial votes, which take place openly and electronically and where citizens can hold each member politically accountable for how the member has voted.

That the office of the Speaker is characterized by a personal trust mandate is something I take very seriously, and I undertake the assignment once again with great humility.

When I was first elected as Speaker in 2018, I formulated three guiding principles for my work as Speaker: democracy, the committees, and the concepts of history and future.

The word democracy was about, in the outward-facing work towards the public, highlighting our Swedish democracy in the past, present, and future and telling about the Riksdag and democracy as a way to increase knowledge of and safeguard trust in our system of government.

Highlighting the committees was about pointing out their central role in the parliament's internal life and taking initiative to strengthen and develop the committee work.

The concept pair history and future was about having an approach in the daily work that is based on respect for the Riksdag as an institution and its origins but at all times with the gaze directed towards the future that the political decisions aim to shape – to stand firmly in history and established practice but also to constantly develop everything from working methods to the Riksdag's buildings.

For me, these three keywords are still highly relevant.

In addition to these, I also want to mention the work of highlighting the importance of research, science, and education for political decision-making and the endeavor that the Riksdag Administration's work shall always be conducted with the Member of Parliament in focus.

Honorable members! I would like to welcome you all, both those newly elected and those re-elected, to the Riksdag and the important mission that the voters have given you. With the mission comes a great responsibility.

You naturally have a responsibility to represent, to the best of your ability, the voters who elected you. But you, and I, also have a responsibility towards all voters to safeguard the trust in the Riksdag as an institution. We do this by seeking solutions to the problems that the voters have identified in our parliamentary work and by distinguishing between facts and personalities in our debates.

It may be a tedious observation when a new parliamentary term has just begun, but even the most brilliant political career ends one day. Your time in the Riksdag may be shorter or longer, but it is always limited. Others have sat in your chair before you, and others again will sit there when you have gone home. What you can do is to manage your mandate during the time you hold it and do your very best to live up to the trust that you specifically have been given. I wish you warm success with that task.

The political and parliamentary situation prevailing after the election poses challenges for all of us. It may, however, be wise to occasionally take a step back and try to draw out the long lines. Members of Parliament come and go, governments come and go and parties come and go, but the Riksdag and Swedish democracy endure.

Changes have occurred before. We have faced problems before. But with collective efforts, generation after generation of politically elected representatives have succeeded in guarding our democratic social order.

I am determined, as Speaker, together with the Speaker's Presidium, to do my absolute best to provide you with the best possible conditions to carry out your mandate. I look forward to doing this together with you members, with the group leaders, with the Committee on Parliament Affairs and with the employees in the Swedish Parliament Administration.

With these words, I would like once again to thank you for the confidence you have shown me and the rest of the Speaker's Presidium. I would also like to take this opportunity to extend a warm thanks to the Age President and his presidium and other officials here today. A warm thanks to you!

(Applause)

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)