LETTER FROM MALMO
Romina Pourmokhtari, in Stockholm, October 18, 2022. JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP
A careful observer of Swedish politics should have recognized the signs. These few words – “Fight against racists, social democrats and the patriarchy” – were suddenly deleted from Romina Pourmokhtari’s Twitter profile.
And this platform where his name was conspicuous by its absence. This text, signed by the leadership of the Liberal Youth Federation (LUF), of which Romina Pourmokhtari is President, was approved on 14 , Christian Democrats and Liberals) and the Democrats of Sweden (extreme right, SD).
He called for voting against the appointment of conservative Ulf Kristersson as prime minister, the architect of the unprecedented rapprochement between the traditional right and the nationalist camp in the September 11 general election. A stroke of the sword: he was elected head of government on October 17 with the votes of all MPs in his majority, including the sixteen Liberals. Including the voice of Romina Pourmokhtari.
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In May 2020, however, the young woman tweeted: “Ulf Kristersson without SD – absolutely. Ulf Kristersson with SD – no thanks. How can this 180 degree turn be explained? The answer came on October 18 with the presentation of the new government. To everyone’s surprise, Romina Pourmokhtari was appointed Minister for Climate and the Environment, making her the youngest minister in Swedish history at 26.
As soon as his name was spoken, the argument broke out: the head of government and Johan Pehrson, who has since become labor market and integration minister, are accused of buying his silence.
Wearing a white shirt with a high collar under a black suit, her brown curls tied in a bun, Romina Pourmokhtari bangs in front of the camera: “My ideological convictions are always the same. So why did you agree to sit in the first Swedish government formed with the support of the extreme right? The young minister jumps in and replies that she cannot pass up the opportunity to “dedicate herself to the environment and the climate”.
change of strategy
But Romina Pourmokhtari is mainly involved in school affairs and has no experience in the field of environment or climate. And its room for maneuver promises to be limited, environmental activists and climate researchers note. For the first time since 1987, the Department of the Environment is losing its independence and falling under the auspices of the Department of Energy and Industry, led by the very populist leader of the
Christian Democrat Ebba Busch, number two in the government that has never made climate a priority.
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