Why doesn’t Douglas Thor resign after being caught buying a vote?
The answer contains both simple calculations of the number of votes and some less beautiful sides of politics, explains TV4 Nyhetern’s political commentator Jens B Nordström.
TV4 News revealed last spring that Muf’s chairman Douglas Thor tried to rig the district chairman election in Jämtland. Thor’s candidate would win through vote buying and the transfer of members from other districts. At least two people were also offered paid trips to Jämtland.
After TV4 Nyheternas’ disclosure, Douglas Thor tried to poodle and admitted that he expressed himself inappropriately. But the resignations came like a letter in the mail. Eight Muf districts called on Douglas Thor to step aside. Nevertheless, Muf’s chairman remains and many wonder why.
Here are three explanations:
1. Thor still has support. Last fall, Douglas Thor challenged MUF’s incumbent chairwoman Matilda Ekeblad and won with a razor-thin margin, 52 votes out of 101. That phalanx battle is still very much alive. No districts have switched sides. Instead, only the trenches have been dug deeper.
2. The moderates are divided. There are several people in the party board who, off the record, think that the chairman of the youth association must be removed. But there is also a group that does not want to see another divisive phalanx battle in Muf. Both sides have looked to party leader Ulf Kristersson for leadership. But the newly appointed Prime Minister has, according to all the testimonies, shown no major interest. Muf should take care of themselves. The compromise has been to give Douglas Thor less nosebleeds, such as poking him as a speaker at the moderates’ Sweden days.
3. There is no challenger. The group that wants to oust MUF’s chairman has for a long time tried to find a unifying name, which could poke Douglas Thor. That task has proven to be about as easy as finding a unifying name in the Middle East. All potential candidates are considered unacceptable in either camp.
The civil war continues
The sum of all this is that Douglas Thor can stay, despite a real lack of confidence. It was also reflected in the moderates’ internal investigation. Despite several points of criticism, the investigation concluded that Douglas Thor had nevertheless failed in his coup attempt in Jämtland, and thus “no formal errors” had been committed.
A lot can still happen, of course. Reportedly, Douglas Thor can’t even show up in some Muf districts, so the civil war continues. But in the Moderates, the strategy seems to be to quietly try to move on. As a source in the party board puts it:
“Douglas Thor is about as popular as a cold sore. But we’ll probably have to drag him along for a while longer.”