It hasn’t been bad for Muharrem Demirok since he became the new Center leader – it’s been lousy. But there is still time to reverse the trend. The question is only when the patience of the centrists runs out.
Muharrem Demirok is waiting outside the tent where a press conference will soon be held. It is glorious sunshine in Visby on a beautiful summer day. There are a few hours left until he is to deliver his inaugural speech in Almedalen. “It’s a historic scene,” says Muharrem Demirok, smiling. He is perceived as pleasant, down-to-earth. Laughs and suggests that I should try their coffee bread: “The buns are so good that they make the angels sing,” he says. It is the side of Muharrem Demirok that you understand that the election committee wants the voters to see. The down-to-earth, generous and humorous. But something is rubbing. Obviously, he has not managed to show this side to the Swedish people. Not yet anyway. The question is whether he ever succeeds.
Lousy numbers
His predecessor Annie Lööf resigned partly because of the poor election result. Then the Center received 6.7 percent. Since Muharrem Demirok took office, the race has escalated. Four out of ten voters have left. In the TV4 voter opinion on June 28, the Center Party gets 4.7 percent. In addition, Muharrem Demirok has finished last in all trust surveys since he took office. When TV4 a few days ago had Sifo ask the Swedish people who they want to see as prime minister, Muharrem Demirok answered zero percent. Zero, none. Possibly a few, but to know exactly Sifo would have been forced to use decimals. Even the center parties do not want to see Muharrem Demirok as prime minister.
Elected despite assault convictions
It was the Center Party’s election committee that appointed Muharrem Demirok as the only candidate for the Center Party to choose from at the meeting in February. They had three candidates to choose from, but the selection committee appointed Muharrem Demirok. This despite the fact that he concealed from the election committee about his assault convictions. He was convicted in his youth for balding people on two different occasions. The two misdemeanor convictions cast a shadow over his entire first term. That was what was talked about. In addition, Muharrem Demirok took over from the internally declared star Annie Lööf – a party leader who is known to the entire Swedish people.
Muharrem Demirok started with a real uphill climb. He was completely unknown, he was supposed to take over from a popular party leader, and he is also convicted of assault – twice. But there is light in the darkness for Murre, as he is called internally in the party. There may be a “Murre effect”. Because it requires sharp ground-breaking thoughts that the broad masses agree with. New policies and new strategies. In the speech on the Almedal stage, Muharrem Demirok highlighted his background as the immigrant guy who succeeded. He wants to show that it is possible to make a lifelong journey. Maybe it’s right of him. Time may make voters forget his youthful sins. Time can drive that they feel they know him more. It is only when a voter feels they know a person well enough that they can gain trust.
Time is therefore crucial for Demirok. The question is whether the center party wants to give him that time. Muharrem Demirok says he sees politics as a vassal race. A distance race, no race man wins in a short time. It is a long way until the next parliamentary election, he adds, and wants to make it clear that he has time on his side. But it is not far until the next election. The EU parliamentary elections are already next year. Then his party leadership will be tested for real. It’s getting late. The clock is ticking for the center leader.
Watch Demirok’s full Almedals speech in the player below