Thursday, July 12, 2012

Swedish Prime Minister files for divorce – nobody cares


                                           Photo: The Telegraph


Today in the newspaper there was a short article about how Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt officially filed for divorce. It was in the middle section of the paper and probably about 250 words long.

In defense of the papers, the news did not come as a surprise. In March, he and his wife announced they were separating, although no papers were filed.

The two have been married for about 20 years and have three children. They are both active in the world of politics and have been the golden couple of the Moderate party for years.

With an election coming up, you would think this would be front page news. I mean, could you imagine what would happen if President Obama filed for divorce? The chaos that would ensue? We can’t even handle Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes getting divorced without working ourselves into a crazy media frenzy involving even reputable news sources (is there such a thing anymore?) and everyone saw that one coming.

It is a real relief, in a way. I believe the personal should have a very limited role in politics. The state of the Reinfeldt’s marriage has little to do with the state of Sweden. Reinfeldt’s moral fiber is not being judged and neither is his wife’s. No one is being asked to ‘stand by their man’ until the end of his political reign. Life goes on, even for politicians.

That said, I am guilty of reading way too much gossip about the Homes/Cruise shenaningans. But mostly because I love reading about the world of Scientology. I really am not curious about the details of the Reinfeldts, although 20 years is a long time.

And as for the next Swedish election, I will be surprised if the divorce is mentioned at all. In general, people seem relatively indifferent to the whole thing. 

5 comments:

  1. There would probably be quite a bit of fuss if the king got divorced, though the king's job probably gives him among the best conditions for keeping his marriage together, and the prime minister's among the worst.

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  2. There's not really an election coming up. We're in the middle of an elected period, so there's two years left, the election isn't really a bi ´g deal for another year.

    And as you wrote yourself, the news were already out. It was big tine first page news when it was announced. The paperwork isn't really that interesting once the decision is made, why would it be?

    But no, divorce isn't such a big thing, it's his politics that matter, not his personal life. What difference does it make if someone is married or not?

    Btw, I like your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it is great that it is in the middle section of the paper and no one minds. I agree, it probably will not be an issue at all. Quite refreshing to actually concentrate on his work and not his private life...

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