After 67 hours of silence, Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar has told the Swedish daily Aftonbladet that the Borlänge inquiry would not disturb talks on a new government because “this is about few votes”.
She used the phrase three times in the same interview.
The accusations were “very serious”, she said, and the police had to be allowed to work in peace. She added that the Left had just taken half a million votes and one of its best results ever.
The party won about 7 per cent of the vote and 30 of the Riksdag’s 349 seats in the September 13 parliamentary elections, six more than in 2022, according to the Swedish Election Authority.
She called Mohamed Abdukardir Ali, whose campaign is at the centre of the inquiry, a man with “obviously great voter trust in Borlänge”.
Ali won 648 personal votes, which gave him the Left’s only Riksdag seat in the Dalarna constituency, central Sweden, according to Swedish media.
Party secretary Maria Forsberg had already confirmed he should keep the seat, but that a timeout could be called, during which he would temporarily be replaced. Ali has since taken that timeout in agreement with the party, meaning he would not sit when the new Riksdag convenes on September 28.
The remark about “few votes” prompted an immediate reaction.
Christian Democrat leader and Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch described the situation as extremely serious and, in a video posted on X, as “a total collapse”.
Christian Democrat MEP Alice Teodorescu Måwe asked whether even a single compromised vote would not be grave enough in a democracy.
Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson, who has been asked to explore the formation of a government that may depend on Left support, had the previous day called the suspicions “very, very serious”.
Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, whose support Andersson would also need, has said her party would not let the Left into government.
Before Dadgostar spoke, Aftonbladet had criticised the party’s handling of the story. It noted that she had posted an Instagram image of cartoon dolphins while questions about the case went unanswered, and that reports of an 81,400-kronor (€7,228) party-office post being offered to Ali had first circulated and then been denied by Forsberg.
Political scientist Andreas Johansson Heinö said parties misuse informal timeouts and that the practice damages public trust.
Ketil Raknes, a Norwegian analyst of political communication, said the case was extremely serious when set against a campaign in which the Left had already removed around 90 candidates over extremist or anti-democratic views.
Swedish media also reported on how the contested votes were allegedly obtained by the suspects.
They targeted women in vulnerable circumstances, people with addiction problems and young men who had not intended to vote, most of them of Somali background, in the Borlänge districts of Tjärna Ängar, Jakobsgårdarna and Bullermyren.
Reportedly, there were also efforts made to recruit homeless people.
According to local press, voters were given Left Party ballots already marked for Ali and driven to the early-voting station at the Kupolen shopping centre. Police are examining whether some votes were bought.
A source quoted by Dagens Nyheter said that where money changed hands the sums were small, a hundred kronor or two (about €9 to €18), sometimes with food.
People were caught on camera withdrawing money at Kupolen in Borlänge. Several different bank cards were allegedly used in the withdrawals.
Masked documents from the Swedish Prosecution Authority seen by SVT show that three people are recorded as suspected of undue influence on voting. None has been formally notified of suspicion.
Ali is not among them and denies any offence.
Alongside Ali, Ahmed Abas Omar, who appears set to enter Borlänge’s municipal council at the top of the Left’s list, has likewise taken a timeout after being mentioned in the same investigation.
The Prosecution Authority’s National Anti-Corruption Unit is leading the case and, on September 22, the police National Operations Department took over the investigation from the Bergslagen police region.
If the allegations turn out to be true, it is most likely that the impact would be felt on the Left Party list rather than on the result of the national election, though margins were razor thin. The opposition bloc holds 176 seats to the outgoing coalition’s 173.
The personal votes at issue made Ali jump from ninth place on the list to the first candidate elected.
The scandal might severely affect the future progressive coalition, though, as other partners might hold it against the Left Party.
It already carried a weight on its shoulders over accusations of anti-Semitism and pro-terrorism stances among certain candidates.
Andersson and a majority of Social Democrat board members are said to prefer a coalition without the Left Party.
The Election Review Board does not have to wait for a criminal charge. After the appeal deadline on September 29 it will consider whether an irregularity changed who was elected.
By September 22 it had received more than 2,000 appeals concerning this year’s elections, not all of them about Borlänge, against a previous record of 723 in 2018, according to Fokus.
The electoral review concerns whether an irregularity occurred and whether it could have affected the election result. It is separate from establishing criminal liability.
A national-level re-run in a constituency has not been ordered before. The law still allows it. Any re-run would have to be held within three months, according to Altinget.
