"Simona has been quite lonely," says political scientist Patrik Öhberg, associate professor and deputy director at the SOM Institute.
For the Liberals, this could be a turning point, he believes.
There may be a symbolic effect if it can get more people to take the same step.
"Now there is someone with some credibility who says, 'I believe in this project. I want to be involved.' In that way it is an important first step."
Lars Leijonborg, who led the party from 1997 to 2007, has high credibility and possesses political capital, he emphasizes.
“Very green”
The problem for Simona has been that she is very green. She doesn't have much political capital that she can use in her relationship with other Liberals to force them to run.
Leijonborg's great success in the 2002 election gave him the nickname "Lion King" in the media, after an election campaign in which integration policy was the party's main issue, including proposals for a language test for citizenship.
"He has some credibility linked to a tougher law-and-order stance, stricter requirements and the like," says Patrik Öhberg.
Less celebrity effect
Leijonborg's political celebrity may play a role for older voters, he believes. But overall, the celebrity effect is smaller in a parliamentary election than in an EU election. Therefore, he believes that Leijonborg's re-entry has a more indirect effect.
It becomes more like an indirect signal that there are some who are stepping up, and that journalists are starting to talk about something other than critics dropping out.
