"Who said I'm interested in that?" Åkesson asked rhetorically in his spring speech at Långholmen in Stockholm.
"For the voters, it is just as interesting that I debate Sweden's future with you as it is that I debate Sweden's future with a wall," he continued, claiming that it would not be the Social Democrats who would hold the helm in the event of a possible change of government.
Instead, the Green Party will be in charge of energy policy, with "recklessly high fuel prices," according to Åkesson. He said he would prioritize debates with the Green Party’s spokesperson and the Left Party’s Nooshi Dadgostar.
Nooshi Dadgostar has already decided that a left-wing government will introduce high taxes for capital owners and chase them away to other countries, Åkesson said.
In his spring speech, Åkesson also dwelt at length on the troubled world situation and emphasized that Sweden must make itself less dependent on the outside world.
Make it easier for ordinary people with ordinary lives to live even in troubled times. Put Swedish interests first. And that's what I choose to do," Åkesson said.
The Social Democrats' party secretary Tobias Baudin called Åkesson's unwillingness to debate "nothing but cowardly."
"It is obvious that Jimmie Åkesson and the Sweden Democrats do not want to be held accountable for their total failures and broken promises during their term of office," he wrote in a comment to TT.
