Analysis: "Hard and hard work awaits Sabuni"

The Liberal Party leadership could no doubt breathe out when the weekend's national meeting in Västerås ended on Sunday afternoon. Sure, the party leadership went through some troublesome defeats, including on the euthanasia issue, but in the big and important issues the voters went completely skinned from the national assembly.

Neither did any tearing-up battles or conflicts take place at the national meeting. Probably so important for a party where the split has been great between different phalanges for a long time. A split that was noticeable not least in the view on the government issue during last autumn and winter's government formation, but also the party would appoint a new party leader after Jan Björklund.

When the national meeting is now concluded, it can therefore be stated that Nyamko Sabuni and the other party leaders have great freedom of action to formulate the party's policy and drive its demands towards the government in the coming years.

Nyamko Sabuni was clear in her speech that she wants to reduce the Swedish asylum reception and tighten integration policy. The National Assembly made no decisions that went against this, but rather the opposite. Among other things, the decision was made to tighten up labor immigration.

However, this can create shivers in government cooperation where both the Center Party and the Environment Party have been skeptical about changing the rules on labor immigration. On this issue, however, Nyamko Sabuni can find an ally in the Social Democrats, who also want to limit labor immigration.

For Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, the national meeting was probably also a relief in general. Since Nyamko Sabuni was not a supporter of the government deal with the Social Democrats, there has been some concern in the Government Offices about the Liberals' choice of path as the party leader changes.

After the weekend's national meeting, it can be stated that no decisions were made by the Liberals that jeopardize the so-called January agreement.

While the Liberals' craze for nuclear power was manifested again with demands for subsidized nuclear power, the Liberals are pushing for this is nothing new. The party has been doing this for a long time.

However, the increased skepticism in the party against high-speed trains within the Liberals may create problems for the rest of the government constellation, which has previously agreed to build new pedestrian lanes for express trains. The more parliamentary parties that oppose this venture, or question it, the harder it will be to complete the project, which is both expensive and takes a long time.

Expectations were high on Nyamko Sabuni ahead of her political line figures on Saturday. Here she would point out the party's direction in the new political landscape after last year's parliamentary elections.

The ambitions were great: The goal is that all extracurricular areas will be gone by 2030, Sabuni promised. But in practice, she gave few clues as to how it should go.

However, the play confirms that integration policy will be one of the cornerstones of Nyamko Sabuni's political construction. This is well over time considering that voters have identified integration policy as one of the most important societal issues. But it is also a political area where it is crowded right now. Most parties with which the Liberals are competing prioritize integration policy and deliver similar policy proposals. That means it's hard for a party like the Liberals to stick out here.

In addition, the Liberals remain fragmented internally in migration and integration policy. The division between claims liberals, who advocate a tighter line, and more traditional social liberals, who want a softer policy, will thus continue to complicate the issue for Nyamko Sabuni.