Åkesson urges climate-minded right-wing voters to back Mohamsson

Jimmie Åkesson delivered the evening’s biggest surprise in Sweden’s election campaign when he urged climate-minded right-wing voters to support Liberal Party leader Simona Mohamsson.

“Are you a bourgeois voter who thinks the climate is important, then you should vote for Simona Mohamsson, because she has fought really well for it,” the Sweden Democrats leader said during Sveriges Radio’s Ekot party leaders’ debate.

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If you don’t want Nooshi Dadgostar as finance minister or Daniel Helldén as energy minister, then you should vote for Simona Mohamsson.

Åkesson had spent the campaign opposing tactical voting and telling voters to support the Sweden Democrats. He had also said that other Tidö coalition voters should choose a party other than the Liberals if the party failed to recover quickly in opinion polls. In recent days, he had softened his position somewhat, while maintaining that voters should not support the Liberals unless they reached 3.5 percent in the polls.

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Are you a bourgeois voter who thinks the climate is important, then you should vote for Simona Mohamsson, because she has fought really well for it.

His appeal went further than that earlier position. “If you don’t want Nooshi Dadgostar as finance minister or Daniel Helldén as energy minister, then you should vote for Simona Mohamsson,” Åkesson said.

The debate, held nine days before the election, grew heated as the leaders discussed healthcare, the economy, migration and climate policy. Magdalena Andersson accused the government of allowing health centres to close after four years of welfare cuts. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the criticism “hypocrisy.” Green Party leader Daniel Helldén said his party viewed a billionaire tax positively but prioritized strengthening Swedish competitiveness, while Liberal Party leader Mohamsson challenged his understanding of economics.

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Hypocrisy!