Swedish Greens make emergency bid to force revote on transitional citizenship rules

The Green Party is submitting an emergency motion to require a new vote on transitional rules for citizenship as a deadline for new rules approaches. The motion demands that the vote be retaken in parliament. The Sweden Democrats previously won the vote on April 29 by using two MPs who had been promised to be withheld. Opposition parties accused the Sweden Democrats of cheating, saying the MPs should have remained out under kvittning, or pairing, which balances voting when opposing MPs are absent due to illness or other commitments. The Sweden Democrats said the approach was intended to reflect the 2022 election result and voters’ will. The Green Party previously tried to retake the vote through a parliamentary initiative in the Social Insurance Committee, but it was rejected by the government majority.

"The Green Party is taking an unusual step to get a new vote on citizenship transitional rules to happen in parliament, as the deadline for the imposition of new rules approaches. The Green Party is submitting an "emergency motion" to the speaker of parliament, demanding that the vote on transitional rules for citizenship be retaken. "We think it is important that the issue can be decided anew," said Green Party group leader Annika Hirvonen."

"The far-right Sweden Democrats defeated the opposition on transitional rules for citizenship on April 29th by sending two MPs to vote whom they had promised to withhold, leading to opposition accusations of cheating, as The Local was first to report. The MPs should have been held back under the system of kvittning, or "pairing", under which parties agree to hold back MPs from voting to balance out MPs from the opposing side who are sick or who have other engagements."

"The Sweden Democrats have claimed that they only acted in this way so that the vote would reflect the result of the 2022 election and the will of the voters. The Green Party has previously submitted an initiative in the parliament's Social Insurance Committee to retake the vote. It was voted down by the government majority. Now, instead, an emergency motion is being presented."

"Hirvonen believes that Sweden Democrats' actions in the vote on April 29th are such a situation. "I mean that the Sweden Democrats have de facto manipulated the result of a parliamentary vote by violating the set-off agreement. This directly affects the rights of over 100,000 people," she told the TT news agency."

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