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Many in the Center Party are shocked and saddened by the scandal surrounding Fredrick Federley, the Center Party’s second vice president who has fallen into a deep personal crisis since it emerged that a close relative was in prison for serious sexual offenses against children.
In tightly controlled press releases, management claims it sees “Very serious” in case that “Damaged trust” for the political maximum.
Stay close to the wire
But neither the C-politician nor Federley’s colleagues in the Liberal Party in Brussels want to comment openly on what happened with the MEP. Informally, however, several say that shock and pain spread within the party because one of its highest-profile representatives in his own words “It has fallen to pieces”.
Everything stays very close to the party leadership, according to sources within the party who say that only party leader Annie Lööf, party secretary Michael Arthursson and someone else have all the information.
– It’s probably only Annie Lööf and Michael Arthursson who really know anything about this, says a source.
Culture of silence at the party
Members of the party in the center are known not to speak of internal processes. When the January agreement on the formation of the government was negotiated, despite many disorderly meetings, they remained completely silent on the outside. Unlike the liberals. That culture is also noticeable now.
But several people still claim that he has been completely silent on the usual internal channels. Someone points out that they have great confidence that the management will handle it well. At the local level, no information has been received.
– This is difficult for Annie. It has been a strength for her to have people she has known for so long at the party leadership, says a former party leader.
22 child rapes
The scandal erupted when the Stop the Press site revealed that a family member of Fredrick Federley had been convicted and imprisoned for serious sexual crimes against children, including 22 rapes and child pornography offenses.
Federley briefed his party leadership last Monday and by all accounts it was a shock to the party. She is one of its most prominent members, a symbol of the party’s modern orientation towards big cities and, like party leader Annie Lööf, with whom she was politically close, one of the original members of the so-called Stureplan Center.
Three days later, he publicly confirmed the information on his Facebook page, where he writes that he is in a deep personal crisis, will take sick leave and that he and the former relative “Now they went their separate ways”.
Trying to handle the crisis
The shaken party leadership is doing everything possible to deal with the crisis and control the damage. Party Secretary Michael Arthursson released a press release explaining that “Of course we take this very seriously” and that Federley’s old relatives “Convicted of atrocious crimes”.
But even on Thursday, C’s press service told Expressen that they would return when the party “decided its strategy.” It was later announced that Federley would not give any interviews.
The scandal spread to sites and social media where many accused Federley of having known his relative’s criminal record for a long time, while others responded that the politician cannot be blamed for something someone else did.
“Damaged trust”
It was only on Tuesday that party secretary Arthursson informed the parliamentary group. But it was limited to information already published in the media. The same day he sent an SMS to SVT where he writes that Federley “a longer time” learned that the former relative had been convicted and imprisoned for serious sexual crimes against children.
He writes that in conversation with Federley “This has been known for a long time.” and what has “Damaged trust in him”.
“Enough time for us to discuss what this means for their political future. We are not there now.”writes Arthursson.
Dissatisfaction within the party
Some in the party are not satisfied with the party secretary’s text message. They think it’s too distant from Federley.
– I don’t think it was a good text message, but I know that the party leadership is trying to buy time and start distancing itself from Fredrick. It’s understandable that they handle it that way, says a shop steward.
Several people describe Michael Arthursson’s statement to SVT as “tough.” It is said that he does not know what has happened at the top of the party, but he interprets the statement as a sign that the rest of the party leadership does not believe that Federley was direct and open enough about what happened.
– Annie Lööf has a need for control that is well known and attested in the match. This must be difficult for her, says a party source.
“Special situation”
Various sources do not believe that the scandal will have such negative consequences for the party.
– I don’t think it affects the game as much as people think. It is such a special situation. Everyone can see that he has no political connections, says a central party artist located downtown.
Others believe the case could spell the end of Federley’s political character. When the party leadership says it has “lost confidence”, it is a very powerful statement.
– I think it will cost him to get back into politics. It is difficult to erase a stamp of pedophilia, even if it is a clear case of “guilt by association”, says a source.
“Sad as hell”
– People think it is very sad, says another source within the party.
Annie Lööf and Fredrick Federley were educated politically in the youth union. They belong to the same political generation and together they waged a high-profile political battle over the FRA against the party’s leadership in 2008. At the same time, some in the party now point out that the political closeness between them should not be overstated:
– I feel like Annie has kept Fredrick at a distance even before, says a shrewd person.
Heavier shoulder roles
Internally, the image of the politician Federley has changed dramatically in recent years. Having succeeded as president of a successful, arrogant, and free-spirited youth union, many in the party feel that he has confidently taken on increasingly important roles.
Several people point to how he acted in the negotiations around the January agreement, for example. For a long time he belonged to the party group that was most skeptical about entering negotiations and then reaching an agreement with the Social Democrats.
However, Federley accepted the decision without protesting and went out to publicly defend the majority line. Not only was he quietly loyal, he went out and took up the debate, although the decision turned out to be different than he would have wanted.
READ MORE: Viktor Barth-Kron: a hard blow for the Center Party
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