Sweden Democrats admit breaking parliamentary voting rules: “I stand by it”

The Sweden Democrats (SD) have defended their decision to break Sweden’s parliamentary “offset voting” system, a move that allowed the government’s stricter citizenship rules to pass, SVT Nyheter reports.

Opposition parties have condemned the action, which saw two SD lawmakers participate in Wednesday’s vote despite being formally “offset” under the system—designed to balance absences by pairing them with opposing-party abstentions. Their votes secured a narrow majority for the government’s proposal.

SD’s parliamentary group leader Linda Lindberg acknowledged the controversy but stood by the decision. “It was entirely reasonable. I believe we should honour the will of the Swedish people as expressed in the election. That’s what I did,” she told SVT.

Lindberg dismissed criticism that the move undermined trust in SD’s commitment to agreements, arguing the party had simply “honoured the majority conditions given to us by the electorate.” She added that she understood opposition frustration, calling their reaction “emotion-driven.”

The Centre Party has demanded Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (Moderates) address the incident and called for a cross-party meeting to clarify parliamentary rules. Centre Party secretary Hannes Hervieu declined to say whether the offset system would remain viable, calling trust between parties its foundation. “It’s almost a philosophical question now,” he said.

Without SD’s breach, the government’s citizenship bill would have failed, as two former SD lawmakers—now independents—voted against it.