History of the Riksdag that the number of seats from 1977 were to be reduced to 349. In 1974 a new Instrument of Government was established as a vital part of the Constitution and for the system of government. The monarchy was retained, whereas the monarch lost all formal political influence and became only a symbolic head of state. Several of the traditional head-of-state functions have instead been transferred to the Speaker of the Riksdag. History of the Riksdag The Riksdag is the national legislature of Sweden. However, when it was founded in 1866 Sweden did not have a parliamentary system of government. 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