It’s election year in Sweden. Election ads this year seem particularly inane. Lots of vague statements that say absolutely nothing about what that party is promising or intending to do. Some are statements of vague wishes such as “Shorter queues in healthcare” or “No young person shall become a criminal” that at least say something about the party’s priorities, though not its policies.

Others say nothing of substance at all, but just string fine words together, such as “Freedom is worth defending” or “Together we can make our Sweden better” or “The whole country is needed”. Nobody would argue against any of those statements, so what is the point?

Moderaterna (M) seem to struggle with basic grammar and Swedish language. “Fler poliser. Mer kameror. Mindre droger. Färre brott.” treats cameras as an uncountable noun, and promises “smaller drugs”. “Nu får vi ordning på brotten” promises to “bring order to crime”.

And the ad by Kristdemokraterna (KD) doesn’t even bother to promise anything, just straight up says “We’re ready to govern”. Don’t worry about our policies, we just want the power!

None of this inspires any hope, really.