In late February, Muharrem Demirok announced that he would step down as leader of the Center Party. This followed internal dissatisfaction that partly concerned the party's weak opinion support and partly that Demirok was perceived as trying to get the party to back S-leader Magdalena Andersson as a prime ministerial candidate.
Demirok now tells Dagens Nyheter that the internal discussion on the government issue eventually became so infected that he could not stay on.
The criticism also got a very clear direction by targeting me, my leadership, and my person. I felt that this division stood in the way of the Center Party being able to make a good election. Then I chose to step down, he says to DN.
According to Demirok, frustration arose within the party when the discussions leaked to the media.
This created an enormous sense of mistrust and disappointment, but also anger. It took a lot out of my strength. All oxygen was taken up by these anonymous leaks and the division that the Center Party displayed.
On May 3, the Center Party will hold an extraordinary meeting to elect a new party leader.
