Name lists submitted - they require a new plan for the school in Luleå

With two large cash registers filled with name signatures, representatives of "The entire municipality shall live and learn" stepped into the town hall at lunchtime.

- For six months we have collected 9,000 names and now the requirement is that the policy should take a turn. We demand that the decision on the school of the future be torn down and that a new plan for the school in the municipality be developed, says Pontus Johansson, spokesperson for the People's Initiative.

The thick piles of paper were handed over to the chairman of the municipal council Nihad Zara (M).

"As heavy as the bundles were, there are probably the 6,200 signatures needed to raise the issue of a referendum," said Nihad Zara (M), chair of the council.

But even if the question is raised if a referendum is raised, it is the municipal council that finally decides and Nihad Zara also believes that the name collection may have come in too late.

- A referendum should be advisory before deciding. Here, the decisions are already made and to some extent enforced, says Nihad Zara,

Ponturs Johansson, however, is optimistic about the possibilities of the People's Initiative to influence the future of the municipality.

- I think we have good opportunities to influence future policy. After all, it has been turbulent in Luleå this past week and a lot has to do with the school question that was driven this spring, says Pontus Johansson.

Another question is which question the voters will eventually have to decide on in a possible referendum.

- I will call representatives of the People's Initiative for a meeting to discuss the issue, they own the issue, but in the end, it is the municipal council that makes the decision, says Nihad Zara.