The Past, the Present, and the Future

Hello and thank you for taking the time to read this.

During the first representative assembly (valfullmäktige) meeting for the newly elected assembly, on the 9th of June, 2011, it was decided that The International Party (TIP) will sit in opposition up until the next Student Union Election of 2012.

The Stockholm University Student Union will for the year of 2011-2012 be lead by President May Al-Boujassam (HumSam) and Vice-President Erik Arroy (S-Studenter). Their two understudies will be titled 2nd Vice-President and will exist of two people selected by the newly elected President and Vice-President. The two selected, are just like Al-Boujassam and Arroy, supporters and current or previous members of the same Swedish political party. That gsame goes for the secretary that was the fifth and final position filled out based on the influence of the newly elected President and Vice-President.

TIP will sit in a 17 seat strong opposition and Al-Boujassam and Arroy will lead a majority coalition of 22 seats along with the parties; Moderata Studenter, Kårpartiet Juridicum, and Gröna Studenter.

So why is not The International Party in a majority coalition? We did get the second most votes, and as party that solely focuses on the students and is not influenced by a political agenda that is formed and stated on a higher more governmental level we look like a party that could attract a lot of interest from all sides of the spectrum. Well, the answer to this is not simple to explain or to understand but to narrow it down briefly I can tell you this; to gain personal winnings several people crossed their own political outlook and opinions while going totally against previous promises. This was done to reach personal positions instead of working to strengthen their party and organization. Who didn’t say that politics was a dirty game?!

Anyway, as partiombud of TIP at the time of negotiations and during the election I feel it is my obligation to give our members, our voters, and everyone else interested an explanation on what happened and of the current situation we are now faced with.

However I will not pin point down exact actions of certain individuals, which in my opinion have acted completely false and egotistic between the time of election and the first representative assembly meeting, here on the internet. Because as you all know, people change, and sometimes for the better, and it would hurt me, just as much as it would hurt them, if a blog entry written by myself turned out to be devastating for someone that in their later life could turn out to be a good human being that could and would do great things for our society.
If you are eager to hear more information on how the negotiation proceedings went along, and so forth, you can contact me personally or join up for the next TIP meeting.

I will finish this blog by pointing out some interesting things:
- S-Studenter (Socialdemokraterna) are now sitting in a majority coalition with support from Moderata Studenter (Moderaterna). This coalition was actually supported by two people of VSF (Vänsterpartiet).
- 2010-2011 years majority coalition will almost be intact excluding Ekonomerna.
- Last year (2010-2011) HumSam was the only party in the majority coalition that did not get a position within the Student Union. This year HumSam, even though they only got 227 votes, were given the President spot. The current president of SUS received a total of 21 personal votes. Elissa Berrill, current Student Union board supplant, of TIP, received 36
- This year’s Student Union board has been minimized, by the majority coalition, to seven seats. This to minimize the influence of Ekonomerna and TIP, the two parties that received the most votes.
- The new speaker of the house (talman) was voted in by the majority coalition and is a member of the same political party as the newly elected President and Vice-President.
- Former Vice-President of SUS will next year sit in the board of Sveriges Förenade Studentkårer (SFS). He was voted in by, among others, the newly elected President and Vice-President of SUS.
- Several of the partiombuds are close friends with each other, and in my opinion, this highly influenced the outcome of the negotiations.

Before I leave you all I would like to state some great news.
As a result of the work we have done an international student will during 2011-2012 sit as one out of seven people, in the Student Union Board. This is the first time this has ever happened. TIP will also have one supplant to the board.
TIP will have one person placed in Election Board Committee as well.

I will from the first of August start to work at the communication department of Stockholm University and due to this I can no longer act as partiombud of The International Party (TIP). It is not due to lack of time or interest, but rather due to a conflict of interest that I feel the only path to take here is to step down from my position.

I have had such an amazing time with everyone involved and I feel that I have gained so much insight from all of you. Together we have founded an organization that seek for the better of all people, regardless of where you are from, what languages you speak, what religion you follow, or what cultural background you have. If we look at what state the world is in right now I think that we are and have been acting very prominently and preventive towards the future and what is ahead of us.

I cannot wish to be part of any other student organization here in Stockholm and I am very proud and happy with what we have accomplished over the past five months.

Now it is time for the party to work towards our aims and goals, even though we are in opposition. It will not be easy, but nothing is. I am sure we can make it happen. We can make great things happen. Just this organizations plain existence is living proof of that.

With more preparation, more manpower, and more energy I am sure that TIP will come back stronger than ever when the spring sun finds its way to the Frescati Campus next time.

For now, so long, thank you all and good luck.

Sebastian Lindholm
(Lindholm will act as partiombud of The International Party (TIP) until the TIP board has selected a replacement for him.)