The nomination committee's chairman Lars Persson Skandevall presents Mohamsson as cut out for the role of party leader.
Simona is fearless, clear and well anchored in the liberal movement. We are completely convinced that she is the right person, he says.
She takes over in a tough situation with just over a year left until the 2026 election. In several opinion polls, L is around 2 percent, and thus risks being thrown out of the Riksdag. In addition, it has been turbulent in the party during the spring. Several heavy names have jumped off – first Minister for Gender Equality Paulina Brandberg and party secretary Jakob Olofsgård, then party leader Johan Pehrson.
Short merit list
Mohamsson is not the name that the party's county associations around the country have presented as their favorite candidate. Among the top candidates were primarily Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari and Education Minister Lotta Edholm. Both are said to have declined.
Add to this that she has an unusually short CV for a party leader. She has been a member of L's party board since 2021 and has been vice chairman of the youth association Luf. As a trustee, she has been chairman of the social committee on Hisingen in Gothenburg.
Mohamsson is a clear critic of SD and was critical of the Tidö cooperation, but she says she has changed her opinion during the term, when she saw the results.
Exactly how the party should relate to SD's demands to sit in the government, if the Tidö parties win the election, will be one of her most difficult tasks to handle. L has decided not to enter into, or contribute to, a government where SD is included. But in the autumn, the issue is likely to come up again at the party's national meeting, and then risks leading to new divisive struggles.
No new messages
Now Mohamsson passes on the question about SD, and does not answer whether she herself can imagine being a minister in a government where SD is included.
There are no new messages in the government issue. That discussion we will take in orderly forms in the party, she says.
At the press conference, she also talks about her background and journey into Swedish society. Her Palestinian father changed his surname from Mohammed to Mohamsson to make it more Swedish-sounding after moving to Sweden.
On social media, it has been mocked, but the change was a gesture of respect, of gratitude and pride, which my father felt for coming to Sweden and becoming part of Swedish society, she says.
Simona Mohamsson will be formally elected at an extraordinary national meeting on June 24.
Simona Mohamsson was previously elected as The Liberals' party secretary earlier this year and has previously been vice chairman of the Liberal Youth Association, chairman of the social committee on Hisingen in Gothenburg and member of The Liberals' party board.
She is 30 years old, born in Hamburg, Germany, and moved to Överlida in Svenljunga municipality when she was seven years old. Mohamsson has a degree in public administration, leadership and digitalization from the University of Gothenburg and published the book Hongkong RIP in 2021, which depicts the democracy struggle in Hong Kong.
She has described herself as a "classic liberal" but with social liberal features, speaks four languages and has, as party secretary, worked with The Liberals' renewal project "Selma".
Her father is Palestinian and her mother is Lebanese, and the family changed their name from Mohammed to Mohamsson after moving to Sweden.
