TIDÖ’S REIGN IS OVER
Tidö has lost its parliamentary majority. For people whose future in Sweden has become a succession of permit deadlines, salary calculations and changing requirements, that result opens the possibility of a different political direction. Turning that possibility into security will require more than a change of prime minister. It will require changes to the rules that govern everyday life.
Ulf Kristersson has requested his resignation, leaving the Speaker to begin the process of finding a government that parliament can accept. The preliminary count gives the four opposition parties 176 seats against the Tidö parties’ 173. His ministers remain in place pending a successor. No new government has yet taken office, and the election result has not repealed a single law.
That distinction matters. Political defeat can arrive in an evening. Its consequences for a family’s residence status, a worker’s contract or a child’s sense of belonging depend on decisions still to come. The next government should be judged by whether it makes those lives more secure, as well as by the promises made during negotiations.
Consider permanent residence. From 12 July, the route to a permanent permit was removed for people holding asylum-related residence permits. The Migration Agency instead examines whether applicants qualify for an extension of temporary permission. People who already hold permanent permits are unaffected by this particular change.
The distinction between an extension and a settled future is substantial. A person can work, learn Swedish and build relationships while still having to plan around the next renewal. Integration policy should give people a credible route towards lasting membership of society. Keeping that destination beyond reach demands a stronger justification than the claim that Sweden should operate at the minimum level permitted by European rules.
The new salary requirement raises a related question. Since June, the general threshold for work permits has been 90 per cent of Sweden’s median salary, alongside the requirement to meet collective agreements or normal pay for the occupation. Exemptions and transitional provisions matter, and the rule does not affect every worker in the same way.
Even so, a national salary threshold can exclude work that meets the accepted pay standards of its own industry. A serious review should examine who loses eligibility, what happens to employers and whether the rules protect workers from exploitation. Earnings alone cannot describe the value of someone’s contribution to a workplace or community.
The government’s expanded repatriation grant offers eligible adults up to SEK350,000 to leave voluntarily. Assistance can be useful to someone who genuinely wants to return. Its voluntary nature must be stated plainly. The larger policy question is how much attention and support Sweden gives to people who want to build a lasting life here.
Immigration rules need public confidence, fair enforcement and workable requirements. Employers who exploit staff should face consequences. Applications need reliable decisions. These aims can be pursued with individual assessment, meaningful safeguards and respect for established family life.
Voters cast their ballots for many reasons. The result supplies no licence to invent a single national verdict on every Tidö policy. It does create an opportunity to review those policies openly. The next government should restore a credible route to permanent residence, assess the work-permit threshold against evidence and make security for settled families an explicit objective. The work of changing course begins with those decisions.
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