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.)

Negotiations are underway

Greetings fellow TIP members and everyone else following our blog and our student party from across the world.

As partiombud of TIP I feel it is my responsibility to let you all know what is going on at the moment.

The Student Union Election results were finalized over a week ago and since Monday the 16th of May the different parties that received seats in the Student Union Council, have been in negotiations for the upcoming year and the upcoming student council meeting that will occur on June 9th. On this student council meeting the 41 seats that define the student union council will be filled with persons that were selected to sit there based on the election results. TIP received 7 seats and will therefore contribute with seven people.

During this student council meeting the Student Union Board will also be formed and this board will exist of at least 7 people. Depending of the size of the board TIP will be represented in it based on the D´hont method, so it will all depend on how many people sit in the board. The President and the Vice-President are also included in the Student Union Board.

However, to select a President and Vice-President, and a Student Union Board, a coalition of at least 21 seats needs to be formed. This 21 or +21 seat coalition is called a majority coalition and will also be the coalition that sits down and works out a strategic plan as well as a budget plan.

As of now negotiations are underway and the different partiombuds’ of each party meet and discuss possible outcomes and possible coalition formations, with different demands and insights, of course.

Do you have any questions about what is going on at the moment? Feel free to send me an email or we can discuss your inquiries further on the upcoming TIP-meeting on May the 30th.

Sebastian Lindholm
Partiombud

Form the future with us

Time flies and as a student of Stockholm University and a member of The International Party (TIP) I have two very exciting weeks ahead of me. On Monday, May the 2nd, campaign week starts and this week is where the different student parties make their presence on campus. Posters are put up, hotdogs are put on the bbq, slogans are written, future promises are stated, pamphlets are given out, and ultimately, the student population start to decide on what party to vote for in the upcoming election.

This brings us to Election Week. On May the 9th you, as a member of the Stockholm University Student Union, can cast your vote in this year’s Stockholm University Student Union Election and you can do so up until May the 13th. You can vote either online on the SUS website, by using your Campus Card (Campuskortet) and the information on it, or you can do it the classical way, in a so called poll both on campus. Regardless of whether you act old school or do vote online I encourage you to vote, I also encourage you to vote for TIP, and these are some of the reasons why:

- We will bring back traditional student pubs as we see this as a fundamental installment of the union and something that has occurred for decades and has become a tradition at Stockholm University.

- We will make sure that the Stockholm University Student Union is a present force on campus and actively interact with the students of our university and becomes a transparent organization that actively takes part in political discussions once again.

-We will make sure that a bilingual newsletter is sent out to all Stockholm University Student Union members. This newsletter will act as a great platform and tool for communication as well as draw more students together towards unified events and activities thus ultimately promoting a better atmosphere with a student population that is engaged in their university also outside of the classroom.

I hope that you will vote for TIP the upcoming election, I know that I will.

Sebastian Lindholm - TIP Representative and student at Stockholm University

Finding Student Housing in Stockholm: A Real Pain in the SSSB

Right, so we all know that finding housing in Stockholm is a pain in the ass even for the employed native. I’m not employed and I’m not a native, so of course I’m struggling to find a place to live after my current lease expires in June. It’s not just me. Many of us international students are in similar positions.

SSSB.se is there to help us, right? Not really.

Take this hypothetical. A Swedish student – let’s call him Anders – graduates from secondary school, gynmasiet, and immediately signs up on a student-housing queue in Stockholm. A foreign student – let’s call her Mary – applies to SU in the winter for admission the following fall, and while she applied to the university, she signs up on the same housing queue as Anders. Well, Anders doesn’t go straight from gymnasiet to university, like many Swedish students: he travels for a bit, or maybe he works a job or two, taking probably an entire school year. By the time Anders applies and is accepted to SU, he’s got well over a year in credit days on his queue (i.e. from his June graduation until his admission for the August of the following year, approximately 15 months). Well, by the time Mary is accepted to SU and arrives in Stockholm, she’ll have only 8 or 9 months of credit days, for the time elapsed between her winter application and autumn admission would be, say, December to August. Both Mary and Anders are equally qualified students and are both afforded the right to live and study in Sweden – Anders by being a Swedish citizen, Mary by earning admission to SU and by being granted a student visa by Migrationsverket – but only one is likely to find student housing.

Does this make any sense?

Sure, SSSB has just announced that only those registered with a student union can queue on its list, limiting Anders and putting him on the same playing field as Mary. But the policy is not retroactive, meaning that Anders’s friend – let’s call him Johan, who began queuing right after high school, took three years off, and is now beginning studies at SU – will have over one thousand SSSB credit days while Mary – and, for that matter, Anders – are still at the bottom of the list. All three began their studies at the same time, all three proved student union membership at the same time, but only one is likely to find student housing.

Does this make any sense?

Andreas Kidane, Representative