After the election, six leftists left their party in protest against the alliance that group leader Lennart Gustavsson (V) formed with the Malålistan, the Liberals and the Moderates.
- We don't like the deal he has made with the bourgeois parties who have also been awarded several leading chairman positions, said the then vice chairman of the Left Party Siv Stenberg to SVT Nyheter Västerbotten in early December.
Before the municipal council, it was clear that several of the defectors will keep their seats in the council - and form a new party, Red Left, something that the newspaper Norran was the first to tell.
Exactly what it will mean for how Malå will be governed is unclear - as the Red Left has not yet declared whether they will support the new alliance - or cooperate with the Social Democrats.