The criminal investigation into suspected election fraud in Borlänge continues after Mohamed Abdukardir Ali received more than 600 personal votes and entered parliament.
On Tuesday, V announced that he would be taking a timeout due to the ongoing investigation.
He will not leave his parliamentary seat, says party secretary Maria Forsberg.
Whether he may leave the assignment in the future remains to be seen. It depends on what the investigation shows, she continues.
Payment information
The investigation concerns marked ballots in the parliamentary elections, according to information in several media outlets.
Expressen has reported that an anonymous police report contains information that people have allegedly driven voters from disadvantaged areas and provided them with pre-marked ballots.
There are also said to be pictures of a person handing out both money and ballots to voters, according to Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter. This information has not been officially confirmed.
No person has currently been charged with a crime.
The Left Party's party secretary does not want to go into details about whether the party has called on Mohamed Abdukardir Ali to step down.
"These are serious allegations. He is not a suspect, but we have jointly agreed that during this period he will take a timeout," says Maria Forsberg.
Reduces the red-green advantage
On Wednesday afternoon, Mohamed Abdukardir Ali had not submitted any leave application to the Riksdag.
If he submits an application for a month or longer, the Riksdag chamber will decide on it. Only after that can he be given a replacement. According to the Riksdag Chamber Office, this case is untested ground.
If a V member is absent without a replacement, the red-greens' narrow advantage in the Riksdag will be reduced from three to two seats.
Earlier this morning, S leader Magdalena Andersson also commented on the information regarding election fraud and the V member.
I take the suspicions that exist very, very seriously. The Swedish people should of course be confident that the elections are going to be fair. Therefore, it is important that this is investigated thoroughly, these suspicions that exist.
Facts: Leave of absence for members of the Riksdag
The Speaker decides on leave applications that are shorter than one month. If the applications are longer than that, the Riksdag chamber decides. However, decisions on sick and parental leave are always made by the Speaker.
A replacement is only called in for leaves of one month or more.
Leave of absence may be granted for special reasons, such as other public assignments. This is decided on a case-by-case basis.
There is also a special agreement between the Speaker and the group leader, which states that a member who is the subject of a criminal investigation, or an investigation by another authority (which could seriously affect the trust in the member), shall be granted leave.
Terms such as “timeout” or “pause” are not used by the Riksdag and are not included in the law. A member who ceases to participate in the work of the Riksdag without granted leave retains his mandate, but may, after a longer period of absence from voting, be liable for repayment of his fee.
No remuneration is paid during leave.
Source: Parliament
