At the beginning of the week, Jamal El-Haj chose to leave the Social Democrats after the party announced that they lack confidence in him. However, he remains in the Riksdag as a political savage. S leader Magdalena Andersson believes that he should leave his parliamentary seat.
In the spring of 2023, El-Haj attended a Palestinian conference even though he had been disowned from the party when the chairman was accused of links to the terrorist group Hamas.
Elected by personal votes
He has been a regular member of the Riksdag since 2018. In a letter to the party, he justifies the decision to stay: “It would not be fair to our voters and Swedish democracy to leave my position”.
He was elected via 3,360 personal votes in 2018. In 2022 he was elected because he was in third place on the Riksdag list and then he received only 1,417 personal votes. Since personal elections were introduced as an alternative in Swedish elections, their use has generally decreased, says S-marked political scientist Maria Lemne:
– It indicates that there is a group of social democratic voters among whom he has strong support.
The next election determines the support
Some have chosen to vote for El-Haj because, just like him, they have a Palestinian background, says Widar Andersson:
– It could be a way of wanting to support him. Like having a background in the countryside and wanting to support someone from there. It’s nothing strange.
How the voters’ support for S is affected by El-Haj’s decision is difficult to interpret at the moment, says Widar Andersson:
– It is only after the next election that you know how it affects. Especially if he chooses to join another party.
The party Nyans wants to recruit El-Haj
El-Haj is the first political savage in the history of the Social Democrats, but he does not affect the balance of power in the Riksdag as the government still has a majority.
When the decision became known, the Nyans party went out and wanted to recruit him. In an interview with Ekot, El-Haj says that he is not interested of joining the party.
Hear Social Democratic voters in the video above.