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Jimmie Åkesson (SD) at the Riksdag.
This is an op-ed from a freelance columnist. Opinions are those of the author.
The hearing of the leader of the Swedish Democratic party, Jimmie Åkesson, at Aktuellt on Tuesday (9/15) pointed out something that I have been thinking about for a while.
Not because of the problems that, depending on the political field, seem to have been perceived as too complicated or completely irrelevant. But because Åkesson behaved like a likely teenager, one where you have to get the answers out and would rather walk into the room and close the door.
Because otherwise, it was the same old audience when it comes to Åkesson. I mean, naughty and irrelevant, which he should have gotten used to after all these years.
Well, of course, it was reasonable to wonder if it really made sense for Åkesson to be brat and coughing on the Riksdag’s rostrum during the party leader debate last week, when the people of Sweden struggle to stay home at the slightest sign of cold. Is the job of party leader more important than other jobs? And how does that indifference go along with the fact that the leader of the party in question earlier in the summer was so furious with the Swedish crown’s strategy that he demanded the resignation of state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell?
But what was interesting about the audience was, as I said, not the questions themselves. Without Jimmie Åkesson he doesn’t seem to care anymore. In any case.
It is true that a bead of sweat could be seen in the party leader’s temple there in Aktuelltstudion, but it was probably more due to the strong lights. Or for the part that he may not really have recovered from that fever (Åkesson’s covid test turned out to be negative).
Otherwise, he looked very tired. Sarcastic and bitter. And when even the heartfelt question from the Swedish Democrats about the return did not shine in my eyes, I began to suspect some mischief.
How much more time does he have?
In the 2022 elections, Jimmie Åkesson will have been the party leader for 17 years, and in any other party the question of the successor would have been raised long ago. Especially when the party leader has become so indifferent that he chooses to travel abroad during a fiery crown crisis and play golf during a meeting where the most important issue of the party must be decided.
But who would take his place?
Chief ideologue Mattias Karlsson (SD) is busy accelerating the hitherto invisible Oikos think tank. Former Member of Parliament Paula Bieler (SD), one of the few female leaders in the party and one who was seen by many as a possible successor, left the Sweden Democrats earlier in the year.
And now another cold-blooded calf goes missing when the group’s leader in the large Haninge Township, appointed to clean up after another of the party’s fired racists, after Expressen’s revelation was fired from both his position of trust and from his job in the Riksdag office.
Why did Jimmie Åkesson attend the Riksdag party leader debate? Perhaps the explanation is the simplest: it is difficult to stay home when there is no substitute.
No wonder he’s crazy.
