"We have made an important decision about our future. Ten years of agony are now over," said Mohamsson immediately after she was re-elected.
There is now a unified government alternative on our side of politics.
The extraordinary digital national meeting had been called quickly after the party board changed its line on the SD a little over a week ago. Under the change, L would allow the SD into government if the Tidö parties win the next parliamentary election.
Shock for many
The turnaround shocked and upset many in the party.
Instead of deciding on the new line, the national meeting had to decide whether Mohamsson should continue as party leader. Since the critics had not managed to produce a counter-candidate in time, the outcome was practically a given.
However, the critics managed to secure the right to show their dissatisfaction by abstaining from the vote. 80 delegates abstained, while 95 voted for Mohamsson. Despite the clear division, Mohamsson said at a press conference:
This is a new beginning for the Liberals. We will come out of this stronger.
Mohamsson said L now represents a clear government alternative with a moderate prime ministerial candidate.
When asked why she believed 80 representatives refrained from giving her their active support, she replied that they should be asked.
“But you can't expect that, as a representative, you can both get the line you want and keep me as party leader.”
Dropping out
Several prominent liberals have said they will leave their positions or the party if the new SD line is adopted. They have also warned that many members will not be keen to work on the party's election campaign.
I understand that it takes time to land, and I respect that you need to reevaluate your commitment to the Liberals, Mohamsson said.
Party secretary Fredrik Brange asked party members to focus now on the election campaign.
Technology chaos
The extraordinary digital national meeting reached the decision after four hours of extensive technical difficulties. The problems were so severe that the national meeting even voted on whether to continue on another day, but that proposal was rejected.
This was followed by long discussions about whether the extraordinary national meeting had been properly convened and other procedural issues. Essentially, it was criticism of how the party board had pushed through the new SD line.
At the press conference, Mohamsson joked about the technology mess.
“It was slow TV about what it's like to be a member of an association,” she said.
