After only two years as party leader, Demirok announced his resignation. The past few months have been marked by internal turmoil surrounding his leadership. After last week, it became too much.
I am not willing to let a discussion about my leadership stand in the way of Sweden or an electoral success in 2026, said Demirok at a press conference.
He did not answer questions. Instead, he sent a message to all parties to gather.
I am shocked, said the party's district chairman in Kalmar county, Christina Davidsson, after the resignation announcement.
She regrets it, but at the same time thinks that his decision shows the strength of Demirok's leadership.
Internal dissatisfaction
The internal dissatisfaction has been about the party's weak opinion support and the perception that Demirok has tried to get the party to back S-leader Magdalena Andersson as a prime ministerial candidate.
When asked if Demirok was pressured to resign, Davidsson replied.
Only he can answer that.
According to sources, a digital meeting was held with all district chairmen on Thursday. There, tough criticism was directed at Demirok, and there was talk of a lack of confidence in him, although he also received support.
For all people, there is a limit somewhere, says one of those who attended the meeting.
Criticized leadership
Karl Gemfeldt, a municipal politician in Kristianstad, is one of the few who has openly criticized Demirok. According to him, it is the weak opinion figures that have led to the resignation.
You have to be able to get people on board, says Gemfeldt.
In the last parliamentary election with Annie Lööf as leader, C got 6.7 percent. Since Demirok took over, the party has been around five percent. He has also been the party leader with the lowest confidence among voters in many measurements.
In the European election, C backed down, but the result was still seen as a success since the party managed to retain its two mandates. However, it was not enough for Demirok's critics.
Muharrem Demirok will remain in place until the party holds an extraordinary meeting to elect a new party leader. The chairman of Kalmar county, Christina Davidsson, says that the party's electoral committee "now needs to get to work extra hard" and do a thorough job to find a candidate with broad support.
I would like to point out that it was Muharrem who had it at the meeting in Helsingborg two years ago, she says.
The chairman of the Center Party in Stockholm county, Patrik Buddgård, says that Demirok's resignation was not something his district had wished for and that it is now a matter of finding a unifying successor.
It needs to be someone who has not been involved in the conflicts.
Muharrem Demirok is the Center Party's thirteenth party leader. He succeeded Annie Lööf in February 2023.
He was born in 1976 in Huddinge outside Stockholm. His father is from Turkey and his mother is Swedish. Demirok has had both Swedish and Turkish citizenship, but since spring 2023, he has only been a Swedish citizen.
Demirok has a degree in political science from Linköping University, the same city where he lives with his family.
Muharrem Demirok became a member of the Center Party in 2002 and was elected to the party's board in 2005. In 2009, he became a municipal councilor in Linköping, a post he left when he was elected to the Riksdag in 2022. Then he also became the party's education policy spokesperson.
He has himself told that he has been convicted of assault twice. The first time was in 1995, when he was sentenced to 70 days' imprisonment. The second time was in 1999. He was then sentenced to conditional imprisonment with 40 hours of community service.
Source: Among others, the Center Party.
