Sweden Democrats Want Somali-Born Left MP Stripped of Citizenship

STOCKHOLM - A Sweden Democrat MP is demanding that the Left Party's newly elected member of parliament, Somali-born Mohamed Abdukardir Ali, be stripped of the Swedish citizenship he was granted only in February. The Left Party has responded by calling the Sweden Democrats a racist party.

Ali was elected to the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament, in September on personal preference votes for the Left Party. Since then he has been at the centre of a string of revelations in Swedish media about his debts, his business dealings and his earlier contacts with the Swedish Migration Agency.

Now Sweden Democrat MP Tobias Andersson has gone considerably further than earlier critics.

"Mohamed Ali is not Swedish just because he got citizenship in February. A citizenship that should be revoked," Andersson wrote on X.

Wants the Constitution Changed Now

The demand builds on an ongoing change to the Swedish constitution. Parliament has already approved a first proposal that would make it possible, under certain conditions, to revoke Swedish citizenship from people who also hold citizenship in another country.

The proposal targets people guilty of serious crimes that threaten Sweden's security or other fundamental interests of society. The government has singled out system-threatening gang crime as one area where revocation could apply.

Because it is a constitutional amendment, a second vote is required after the election before the new rules can take effect. Detailed legislation on when and how citizenship can be revoked must then follow.

Andersson wants the process sped up, with parliament taking its second vote without waiting for a new government to be formed.

"We should vote a second time now and then test the law on Mohamed Ali," he wrote.

At the same time, he concedes it is unclear whether the rules could be applied to Ali at all.

"Whether it can be applied to Ali is only speculation, since there are no precedents," he wrote.

Ali is not suspected of any crime, and there is currently no established legal basis for revoking his citizenship under the proposed amendment.

Refused Citizenship Before

Last week the Sweden Democrats' delegation in the European Parliament published a post claiming that the Left Party politician does not belong in Sweden. The party also claimed that Ali had given incorrect information to the Swedish Migration Agency when applying for citizenship.

Ali had previously been refused Swedish citizenship because the agency judged that he did not meet the requirement of leading an "honest way of life", a condition that covers unpaid debts. In February 2026, however, he was granted citizenship.

"A Racist Party"

The Left Party's parliamentary group leader, Samuel Gonzalez Westling, says the demand is another example of what he describes as the Sweden Democrats' hostility towards people of foreign background.

"Unfortunately it is no news that the Sweden Democrats are a racist party whose purpose is to spread hate against people with a background other than Swedish. This is just one stunt among many. The question is why the parties that say they want to work with the SD stay silent and let it pass without comment," he said.

After the Sweden Democrats' criticism last week, the Left Party had already come out in Ali's defence, saying the MP had been subjected to extensive hate and threats in recent weeks and calling the Sweden Democrats' conduct deeply unacceptable.

Ali himself has answered questions about his right to be in Sweden by pointing to the legal system.

"In Sweden, questions of residence permits, citizenship and deportation are examined by the responsible authorities and courts," he has said.

No legal process to revoke Ali's citizenship has been reported. For now, Andersson's demand remains a political move, while the constitutional amendment he refers to still awaits its second vote in parliament.