With the clear vote numbers 59-31, the party leadership's line won on Sunday's liberal party council.

This means that the Liberals are now going to the polls for a bourgeois government that can also cooperate with the Sweden Democrats.

The clear outcome of the vote is, of course, a great success for the party leader Nyamko Sabuni, who has been subjected to harsh internal criticism for his ambition to open up for collaboration with the Sweden Democrats.

At the same time, it is noticeable how sharply public opinion in the party has changed compared to when they said yes to the January agreement in January 2019. At that time, the majority ratio was almost identical - but the opposite.

Then the vote count was 62-30 for cooperation with the Social Democrats.

With the decision by the Liberal Party Council on Sunday, the party is making a complete U-turn.

Now it is bourgeois co-operation that applies, even if it means co-operation with the Sweden Democrats.

Agreements with SD are likely to be difficult

With Sunday's decision, Nyamko Sabuni also acquires great freedom of action for what this collaboration can look like.

However, reaching agreements with the Sweden Democrats is still likely to be difficult.

There are a number of heavy policy areas where the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats want completely different things.

Both the Moderates and the Christian Democrats are closer to SD when it comes to, for example, migration issues, integration and criminal policy.

The same applies to parts of cultural policy and the view of, for example, public service.

Reaching a consensus between L and SD on these issues will probably be much more difficult.

SD leader Jimmie Åkesson also makes no secret of the fact that he demands a significant influence over the government he intends to support.

In his first comment after the Liberals' decision today, Jimmie Åkesson stated that SD does not intend to be a support wheel for a government but demands a political influence in proportion to SD's size.

How the Liberals will handle this in that case, given the deep division in the party, is likely to be a delicate issue for the party leadership.

Heavy L politicians jump off the next election

And the battle within the Liberals is by all accounts not over.

The party's second vice chairman Christer Nylander announced just one hour after today's decision that he will not run for parliament in the next election.

He is one of the party's heaviest representatives in the Riksdag, but has recently been on a collision course with the party leadership in the SD issue.

The question is what consequences for the party Nylander's resignation will have.

In any case, Nyamko Sabuni obviously makes the assessment that the situation in the party is critical after Sunday's party council.

A significant minority wanted to stop the proposal to open up for cooperation with the Sweden Democrats and the exchange of views in the party has at times been heated.

At the last minute, Nyamko Sabuni also canceled her participation in SVT's Agenda, which should be interpreted as her concern about deepening and exacerbating the contradictions in the party.

The victory at Sunday's party council can thus give Sabuni a bitter aftertaste.

Admittedly, the margin in the vote was fairly wide, but at the same time there is a significant risk that the internal strife will continue.

This autumn, the party's highest decision-making body, the national assembly, will meet.

Expect Sabuni's critics to sharpen their knives until then to try to stop or limit a rapprochement with the Sweden Democrats.