On Friday, The Liberals' party board met to decide on the sensitive issue of whether to accept ministerial posts for the Sweden Democrats ahead of the next election – an issue that divides the L internally.
I can announce that the party board has just made a unanimous decision to support my line in the government issue. We will therefore go to the election to ensure that this government is re-elected, says party leader Simona Mohamsson after the meeting.
We want Ulf Kristersson as Prime Minister, we want a bourgeois government without the Sweden Democrats, she continues.
"Solved it earlier"
She further states that The Liberals' party board wants to remove all red lines when it comes to policy issues and that they want to achieve a new Tidö Agreement. She insists that she will not change her mind on the issue.
However, it is the national meeting in November that makes the final decision on the matter.
I expect that they will support that we are team Ulf, that we want a new Tidö Agreement, that we do what is best for Sweden.
Do you think it will be more difficult for you to get support votes from The Moderate Party?
No, we have solved it earlier, she says.
Åkesson stands firm
Jimmie Åkesson has, however, issued an ultimatum: Either the Sweden Democrats sit in the government after the next election or the party goes into opposition. In a comment on X he stands by the message.
"If the result of the election in just over a year gives a continued Tidö majority, which includes The Liberals, they need to change this message when the election is carried out", he says, and adds that The Liberals' stance must seem "incomprehensible" to voters.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (The Moderate Party) believes, however, that he can solve the knots between the parties.
"The Liberals and the Sweden Democrats have long had known positions on the government issue and they have not changed. Even in the previous term, the two parties had irreconcilable positions. But I found a solution and I and we together will do so again after the next election, if we get the trust of the voters", he says in a written comment.
Deep division
A number of liberals have in an internal letter warned that The Liberals risk being "erased" from national politics if the Tidö cooperation continues. One of the letter writers is Suzanne Liljeberg, group leader for The Liberals in Lidingö.
The alarm has gone out to the party leadership that this is devastating, she says.
We see this as a partial victory. It could have been so much worse, she says about Mohamsson's message.
Liljeberg believes that the struggle will remain at the national meeting in November. And today's message does not solve the problem that members and voters are leaving due to the Sweden Democrats cooperation, she means.
