The Sweden Democrats' decision to allow two members to vote in the Riksdag, despite those members being disqualified, violates a practice the parties have followed for at least 100 years. This is particularly serious for the SD, as the party has only been allowed into the system in recent years, says Marie Demker at the University of Gothenburg.
In this way, you have violated it twice. You have broken the norm itself, but you have also broken a practice that you really wanted to be a part of and shown that you consider it important.
Political mavericks
A balance means that the parties ensure that an equal number of members from both blocs abstain from voting, in order to maintain the balance of power in the distribution of seats.
Wednesday's vote was on new transitional provisions in the Citizenship Act. The SD decided to break the set-off agreement when the party realized that two former SD politicians, who are now political mavericks, would vote with the opposition.
SD's group leader Linda Lindberg defends the action by saying that voters voted for the Tidö parties and thus expect a certain policy, "regardless of whether there are a couple of opportunistic mavericks sitting in our seats in the chamber."
Pressure on members
Marie Demker rejects that reasoning.
There is a personal election system and we vote on lists of individuals. It is individuals who sit in parliament. And then you may have to accept that the system looks the way it does.
She believes that what happened poses a threat to the set-off system.
And if it doesn't work, the votes will become more unpredictable, but there will also be pressure on members of parliament who, for family reasons, illness or other acceptable reasons, cannot be present in the chamber when margins are that close.
Facts: The Riksdag's set-off system
The set-off system is not a law but an agreement between the parties, mainly between the blocs. This means that absent members should not affect the balance of power in votes in the Riksdag.
If one or more members cannot attend, it is "set off" against a member of another party who abstains from voting.
The system is very old and has been used since at least the early 20th century. However, the SD was not allowed in until 2021, eleven years after entering the Riksdag.
Sources: Parliament, Swedish Radio.
