I will attend all the votes that I need to attend in the future, Jimmie Åkesson tells TT.
It was SVT that reported a month ago on Åkesson's high absence from voting sessions in the Riksdag. Last year, for example, his absence rate was 93 percent. The SD leader has justified this by saying that he wants to be out meeting voters.
However, after the high-profile dispute over the set-off agreement earlier this week, all members must be present for votes in the Riksdag next week.
I have attended all the votes that I have had to attend during this term and I will attend all the votes that I need to attend in the future, Åkesson tells TT.
“That is the basic problem”
Åkesson agrees with some of the criticism that has been directed at his party after Wednesday's vote on new transitional provisions in the Citizenship Act.
The SD decided to break the set-off agreement when the party realized that two former SD members, who are now independents, would vote with the opposition. But he believes the criticism is misdirected.
So the fundamental problem is that we have mavericks in the Riksdag who can vote exactly how they want and hijack the entire election result. That is the fundamental problem here. Then they blame us and say that we have cheated and staged a coup. You can think that - and many people probably do, depending on which party you belong to, Åkesson says.
“Find a solution”
However, he believes that the set-off system has a future.
I am convinced that a solution can be found.
And what does it look like then?
Yes, that can be discussed. There are different approaches. I'm not an expert on these things, but there are many who have constructive solutions on how to maintain proportionality in the Riksdag while we have these mavericks.
