History of the Riksdag in 1921. By this Sweden had established a democratic and parliamentary system of government. In the 1960s debates intensified over constitutional reform in Sweden. The fundamental question was over the system of government. Even though a "de facto" parliamentary system was firmly established, somewhat similar to the situation in the United Kingdom, there were demands for a more democratic constitution. One of the main issues was whether the monarchy would survive constitutional reform and this blocked the issue for a long time. Effective from 1970 a reform of the Riksdag had been agreed upon. Though not technically part of the
President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek, former Prime Minister of Poland and member of Solidarity Electoral Action, was elected as the first president from the central and eastern European countries which joined in the 2000s (more precisely, he is the first person from a country that joined the EU after 1986 to hold the post). The two major factions of the European Parliament, the EPP and the S&D, have reached a formal agreement to share the presidency under the 2009–2014 term. Under the agreement, Jerzy Buzek will be president in the first half of the term and a S&D member would be elected in