Swedish MP resigns over groping allegations
The Local Sweden - [email protected]
Published: 8 Mar, 2019 CET.
Updated: Fri 8 Mar 2019 13:44 CET
Eskil Erlandsson, an MP for the Centre Party and a former minister for rural affairs, resigned from parliament on Thursday after being accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour.
Four female MPs have accused Erlandsson of unwelcome physical advances, saying he touched them without their consent.
Upon the revelations, the Centre Party immediately asked Erlandsson to resign.
“There has been very inappropriate behaviour toward a number of women that is completely unacceptable,” Centre Party spokesman Anders Jonsson told TT.
Four women told Jonsson that Erlandsson touched them inappropriately during lunch and dinner meetings. All four of the women are MPs for the Moderate party, including Cecilie Tenfjord-Toftby, who spoke publicly about her encounter with Erlandsson.
She told P4 Sjuhärad that Erlandsson put a hand on her thigh during a lunch at the parliament building. She said the other women’s stories are nearly identical.
“This is not okay. You can’t behave in this way,” Tenfjord-Toftby told P4 Sjuhärad. “I was mostly pissed off, but also offended and disappointed that a colleague would do that.”
Tenfjord-Toftby said she told her party leadership about the incident, which sparked others to say they had been exposed to something similar from Erlandsson.
Jonsson said that after he heard the women’s story, he asked Erlandsson to step down.
“No one should be subjected to this. This was something that crossed the line, so there was no doubt that I should urge him to resign,” he said.
Erlandsson has declined to comment.
Jonsson said that the Centre Party would not report the matter to the police and that any additional steps should be the decision of the women affected.
Erlandsson has been a Member of Parliament since 1994 and was appointed Minister of Agriculture after the 2006 election. In January 2011, the new Rural Ministry was established and he was instead named the minister of rural affairs.
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Four female MPs have accused Erlandsson of unwelcome physical advances, saying he touched them without their consent.
Upon the revelations, the Centre Party immediately asked Erlandsson to resign.
“There has been very inappropriate behaviour toward a number of women that is completely unacceptable,” Centre Party spokesman Anders Jonsson told TT.
Four women told Jonsson that Erlandsson touched them inappropriately during lunch and dinner meetings. All four of the women are MPs for the Moderate party, including Cecilie Tenfjord-Toftby, who spoke publicly about her encounter with Erlandsson.
She told P4 Sjuhärad that Erlandsson put a hand on her thigh during a lunch at the parliament building. She said the other women’s stories are nearly identical.
“This is not okay. You can’t behave in this way,” Tenfjord-Toftby told P4 Sjuhärad. “I was mostly pissed off, but also offended and disappointed that a colleague would do that.”
Tenfjord-Toftby said she told her party leadership about the incident, which sparked others to say they had been exposed to something similar from Erlandsson.
Jonsson said that after he heard the women’s story, he asked Erlandsson to step down.
“No one should be subjected to this. This was something that crossed the line, so there was no doubt that I should urge him to resign,” he said.
Erlandsson has declined to comment.
Jonsson said that the Centre Party would not report the matter to the police and that any additional steps should be the decision of the women affected.
Erlandsson has been a Member of Parliament since 1994 and was appointed Minister of Agriculture after the 2006 election. In January 2011, the new Rural Ministry was established and he was instead named the minister of rural affairs.
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