Fredrik Reinfeldt - Taking on the Challenge

Fredrik Reinfeldt

Taking on the Challenge

Fredrik Reinfeldt is the Prime Minister of Sweden. Reinfeldt is a visionary and member of the Moderate Party. At the age of 41, Reinfeldt is the third youngest person to become Prime Minister. Prime Minister Reinfeldt has been instrumental in the reform of Sweden's welfare system; he has proposed changes like cutting taxes for the lowest income earners and reducing unemployment benefits to encourage unemployed citizens to return to work. He has discouraged his party from dismantling large portions of the Swedish welfare state, stating that change should come gradually from the bottom up and not be dictated from the top down. Reinfeldt wants the focus on getting people off of welfare benefits and into jobs. He has said he supports small change rather than radical reform.

On Election Day 2010 in Sweden Prime Minister Reinfeldt's center-right government won the majority of the vote share against opponent Mona Sahlin, the Social Democrat Party leader, but was denied an outright victory winning 172 seats, three seats short of a majority. So Prime Minister Reinfeldt brought four of the political parties in Sweden, the Moderate Party, the Centre Party, the Liberal Party, and the Christian Democrats, to create The Alliance for Sweden. These four parties were known for being divided prior to the Alliance, which has helped them to present a powerful front to the Social Democrats. Reinfeldt stated that his new minority government would put forth broad based legislation in the Riksdag, or Swedish Parliament. He also said that discussions were in the works for the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party. In putting forth his policy agenda, Prime Minister Reinfeldt said "We want to take responsibility for our country and create good conditions for work and welfare, to lay the foundations for a fair society that stands together, a society in which people can feel safe and secure, take their own initiatives and realize their ambitions."

I believe that Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt is a lot like President Barack Obama, especially when it comes to the issue of change. Like Obama, Reinfeldt seeks to improve Sweden by making adjustments to systems already in place as well as creating new opportunities for his country to thrive. Reinfeldt has compared his own government actions and policies to those of former President Bill Clinton's administration, and has been supportive of President Obama.

References

Leader Biography. (2011). Sweden Country Review, 54-55. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Fredrik Reinfeldt. (2011, May 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:30, May 10, 2011,