Mohamed Ali says two-week leave is not an admission of guilt

Mohamed Ali says his two-week leave from parliament should not be seen as a resignation or an admission of guilt, as police investigate circumstances surrounding his election campaign. He made the remarks in a Facebook post cited by SVT.

Ali said coverage of suspected election fraud linked to his campaign had been difficult both personally and politically. He criticised reports focusing on his background, personal votes and previous financial situation, and said he felt he had been judged by a double standard.

“Conclusions have been drawn about me before the ongoing processes and investigations have been allowed to run their course,” he wrote. “It is important to me that the facts come out and that people are not judged in public before there is a proper basis.”

Ali also said discussion of his origins had been particularly difficult, adding that it risked making other Swedes with minority backgrounds feel their participation in democracy was being questioned on different terms.

He rejected what he described as a false impression that he had not taken part in the Left Party’s election work. He said he had canvassed door to door and made visits in Borlänge and other communities in Dalarna.

Ali will not attend the parliament’s opening on Monday. He said he had requested two weeks off to deal with the situation and plans to return to his role as a member of parliament afterwards, regardless of the outcome of other processes and investigations.

Ali was ninth on the Left Party’s parliamentary list in Dalarna but won a seat after receiving 648 personal votes. Just over a week after the election, prosecutors announced an investigation into suspected election fraud connected with the personal campaign. Ali is not suspected of a crime, but police are investigating circumstances surrounding his campaign.

The investigation also involves a man who gained first place on the party’s municipal election list through personal votes. Klas Holmgren, a board member of the Left Party in Borlänge, told SVT News that both men were well known locally and that their support in the campaign was not surprising.