New leader Juholt a "risk-take"
The man once called the Social Democrat's "golden boy" says the new party leader is a risky choice, according to the news agency TT, in a preview of Thomas Bodström's new book. The book's title translates "From within - the power, the wangling, the politics".
In the book, Bodström says the former party leader Mona Sahlin was brought down by a coup from among others the new party leader Håkan Juholt.
Bodström says that Sahlin - who was forced out after only one term in the driving seat - should have been the perfect party leader, but among her mistakes was that she did not dis-arm her enemies by bringing them closer to power.
Bodström dismisses the choice of Carin Jämtin as the party secretary - the number two in the party - saying that he "strongly doubts" that she is "the right person in the right place". New party leader Håkan Juholt is branded a risky choice, as he is a person from one of the warring factions.
Other highlights of the book include calling Foreign Minister Carl Bildt Sweden’s most overrated politician, claiming that Justice Minister Beatrice Ask wouldn’t know what to say if she didn’t have her staff telling her. He says that Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt gets particularly arrogant when he is under pressure and complains that Wanja Lundy-Wedin, the leader of one of Sweden’s largest unions, is a weak leader.
He also tells the story of the king who allegedly joked with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, while on an official visit to Thailand, about suicide bombers saying how stupid they are “since they never get to see the result.”
