A Somali-Swedish female politician is hoping to become the first elected Somali-Swedish legislator in the upcoming 2018 Swedish general election, slated to be held on September 9, 2018.
The Somali-Swedish female politician, Laila Ali Elmi, has presented her herself as a legislative candidate on Sweden’s fourth largest political party, the Green Party “Miljöpartiet” ticket for Angered district in Gothenburg city representative.
Elmi was born in Somalia and her family fled to Sweden in early 1990s when civil war tore the country apart.
Elmi has been a member of Gothenburg’s Angered district local council since 2014 and she hopes to be elected as a member of Sweden’s national law-making assembly, the Riksdag (Riksdagen), after winning Green Party’s nomination for the general election.
If elected, she would be the first East African, Muslim woman elected to Riksdag.
Elmi who is tussling it out with rival candidates -all jostling for the Riksdag seat enjoys the backing of Angered district’s majority voters since Angered district is home to the largest East African immigrants in Sweden.
Gothenburg’s Angered district is home to a 14,000 Somali community members and the largest East African community in Sweden, thus making Elmi the presumptive Angered district’s Riksdag representative.
Speaking to journalist in Gothenburg, a Somali-Swedish senior political analyst Ahmed Mohamoudd Ali Gooni better known as Saajid Afrika, has stated that hard work, passion and large base of supporters will propel Laila Ali Elmi to the legislative seat.
The 2018 Swedish general election, scheduled for Sunday 9 September 2018, will elect the members of the Riksdag which in turn will elect the Prime Minister of Sweden. The Swedish Riksdag is made up of 349 MPs,
Currently, Elmi’s party the Green Party is the fourth-largest party in the Riksdag with 25 seats.
The author, Abdirisak Itaqile is the Editor-In-Chief of SomalilandMonitor