Greeting speech from the Speaker of the House

Anders Ygeman (S)

Honorable Members of Parliament! My ladies and gentlemen! In my capacity as the Speaker of the Riksdag, I would like to warmly welcome you to the Riksdag's first meeting for the parliamentary term.

Let me specifically extend a warm welcome to you 97 completely new members: You are warmly welcome to the Swedish Riksdag! The oldest of us gathered here today is 78 years old – it is not me. The youngest of us is 22 years old. 46 percent of us are women, and 54 percent are men, which is the same gender distribution as when the newly elected Riksdag took office in 2022.

We can be pleased that the voter turnout in this year's election increased. More citizens in our elongated country made their voices heard. Now it is our responsibility to administer the election result and take responsibility for our country's future.

I thought I would conclude with a few words from Lars Winnerbäck's latest album:

And somewhere there is a wide-layer On some frosty artificial turf Dreaming of getting away Training to pass home

And somewhere there is a rehearsal room Not anywhere, but somewhere With a rickety, old PA With music hitherto unheard

And is it something they deserve Besides dreams and an audience Just ordinary old future Just ordinary old future

With these words, I declare the first meeting of the Riksdag opened.

(Applause)

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