Parental leave

TALMANNEN

Honorable members of the Riksdag! On November 26, we were reached by the sad news that former Speaker Birgitta Dahl passed away after a period of illness. Our thoughts and our warm sympathy go to her family, some members of whom are here with us today, as well as to other relatives, friends, and former colleagues.

Presentation

As you know, we gather in the chamber to remember a serving member who has passed away. This does not apply to former members. However, we hold commemorations in the chamber in memory of former speakers and former prime ministers.

Many of us remember Birgitta Dahl as a person and politician with a razor-sharp intellect and a strong personality. She was determined, combative, and brave. With her deep interest and thorough expertise, she won respect and friends in broad camps and across party lines. She combined commitment and tenacity with warmth and care for others.

Birgitta Dahl was born on September 20, 1937, in the current Härryda municipality in Västergötland. She was elected to the Riksdag in 1969 as a member for the Socialdemokraterna. Birgitta Dahl became Speaker in 1994 and held this position for eight years, until 2002, when she left the Riksdag after 33 years. During her time in the Riksdag, she also served, among other things, as vice chairman of the Social Insurance Committee.

Honorable members! Birgitta Dahl's social engagement began in student associations with municipal assignments and international work, including within the peace movement. Thereafter, her focus was on the assignment as a member of Parliament in the 70s, on the assignment as a minister in several Social Democratic governments in the 80s, and on the assignment as Speaker in the 90s.

Birgitta Dahl is described by many as a role model and a pioneer. Former Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson has expressed it as that Birgitta Dahl cleared the way for women in politics. She was strong and persistent, especially when she fought to push through important changes within the areas she was particularly passionate about, such as equality. She was involved in pushing through several equality reforms that have made a great impact in our country, for example, the reforms for the expansion of daycare, universal parental leave, and the ban on corporal punishment.

Birgitta Dahl took her great commitment to issues of equality with her into the role of Speaker. In 1995, she invited female members - one from each parliamentary party - to a meeting. She wanted to discuss how they could cooperate to maximize the benefit of the Riksdag's good representation between the genders. The result included, among other things, an activity for the members' children and the introduction of fixed times for voting - all to make it easier for both women and men to combine the role of member with family life. This became the real start of the Riksdag's internal work on equality issues. It is an important work that continues to this day.

As part of the children's activities, and as an expression of Birgitta Dahl's care and consideration for others, she also took the initiative for Children's Day in the Riksdag. Members of Parliament with their families were invited to the Riksdag for an unusual day with tours of the Riksdag building, photography and a vote in the Second Chamber, as well as visits to the restaurant, committee room and repro center. The schoolchildren were given material to take home so they could tell their class about the Riksdag.

Birgitta Dahl is a legend in the Riksdag when it comes to equality work, but she is also associated with her great and early commitment to environmental and energy issues. Olof Palme appointed her in 1982 as assistant Minister for Industry with responsibility for energy issues, and four years later she was appointed Minister for Environment and Energy. In 1990 she became Minister for Environment and then pushed through, among other things, a ban on the use of freons, which were found in, for example, refrigerators at that time.

She was, therefore, a pioneer in several areas and at times faced much resistance. She had to endure harsh words and personal attacks but never gave up. In the SVT documentary *Birgitta Dahls heliga vrede*, she says: "I have paid a high price, and it has been highly worth it." We are all grateful today for everything Birgitta Dahl achieved during her life's work.

I myself met Birgitta Dahl a number of times after I became the Speaker of the Riksdag. I asked her for meetings and conversations to hear how she approached the role of Speaker and how she had worked with various issues. I had then, as today, great respect for her experience and knowledge, and I clearly felt her commitment and passion during these meetings. I appreciated the conversations and the advice I received very much.

Apart from the obvious – the politics and the Speaker's mandate – Birgitta Dahl and I also had something else in common, namely the love for literature and books. Together with her husband Enn Kokk, she created a completely unique book collection in a library consisting of tens of thousands of volumes. For those who find it difficult to imagine how large the collection actually is, I can tell you that they had to buy the apartment next to their own home in Uppsala and knock down the wall to make room for all the books.

Honorable members! A respected, brave and committed person and politician has left us. I want to express my and the Riksdag's thanks for her contributions to the Riksdag, for democracy and for Sweden.

Those gathered in the plenary chamber honored the memory of Birgitta Dahl with a minute of silence.

The presentation concluded with a tattoo performed by Gustav Lundström from Livgardets dragonmusikkår.

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