"After eight years as a member of parliament for the Liberals, I have decided not to run for another term. Therefore, I have informed the chairman of the Liberals' election committee in Stockholm that I am withdrawing my candidacy for the Riksdag," writes Avci, who is also the Liberals' defense policy spokesperson.
Avci, who was in third place on the Liberals' parliamentary list for Stockholm ahead of the election this fall, writes that the decision came about "slowly and with a lot of thought", but that it now feels right to "make room for something else".
Avci will remain as a member of parliament for the remainder of the term.
The Liberals are currently rocked by record-low opinion poll numbers. In a poll from Ekot/Indikator this week, the Liberals received only 1.4 percent, far below what is required to enter parliament.
"This is a crisis that has been going on for a long time. I take this seriously. But I have said since day one that it will take time to turn this around," party leader Simona Mohamsson commented on Wednesday.
The crisis situation for the party will be discussed when the party board meets on Friday and Saturday for a previously planned meeting.
There is frustration in the party about the line on the government issue that was decided last fall after exhausting internal discussions. Critics believe that the stance of saying no to a government that includes the Sweden Democrats, while still wanting to continue the Tidö cooperation with them, is unclear and difficult for voters to understand - and that it is the main reason for the opinion collapse. Several Liberals that TT spoke to believe that the party's red lines must be scrapped and that a new decision must be made before the election.
But there are also those in the party who believe that the red lines against SD should remain.
Corrected: In a previous version, the wrong day of the week was specified for when the survey was published.
