A nationalist party denounced by Sweden’s center-left government as a “neo-fascist” has become the country’s second-largest party, propelling the right into a slim lead in elections. Congress is still too close to call.
Preliminary results are expected until Wednesday, but with 94% of the votes counted, the right-wing bloc leads the ruling centre-left group led by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson by less than a percentage point.
Anti-immigration Swedish Democrats, shunned for most of the past decade, Definitely the biggest party on the right, just behind Andersson’s Social Democrats, who have finished first in every election since 1917.
Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Swedish Democratic Party, said: “Our ambition is to sit in government.
The party, which has its roots in the neo-Nazi movement, was scorned by all other parties until the latest parliament, when its hardline policies on law, order and immigration began to attract support from the centre-right.
An unusually harsh campaign focused on gang crime and immigration after a record number of deadly shootings in troubled suburbs pushed Sweden to the top of such statistics. in Europe.
Magdalena Andersson © Kay Nietfeld / dpa
If the right-wing lead is confirmed, the four parties in the group will face the difficult task of forming a unity government due to a thin majority and infighting.
Ulf Kristersson, leader of the center-right Center Party, which has dropped to third place for the first time since 1976, is the favorite to become prime minister, but will have to deal with a nationalist party that has been promoted. encouraged to get more votes.
“I am ready to do everything I can to create a new, stable and effective government for all Switzerland and all citizens,” he said early Monday morning.
Nicholas Aylott, a senior lecturer at Södertörn University, called the result “historic” for the Swedish Democratic Party and said it would be a “severe blow to the body” for the moderate Party. He added: “Stable, strong, assertive government is perhaps not expected [from the election]but not chaos. ”
The country’s political scene has been in turmoil since the Swedish Democrats appeared in parliament in 2010. The ruling Social Democrats have twice been forced to rule on the budget of the opposition right-wing faction. , while Andersson himself had to resign as prime minister last year. only after seven o’clock in the post, before being re-elected a week later.
The Social Democrats have campaigned less on issues and more on the image of Andersson, who only became prime minister in November and is by far the most famous politician domestic.
Two of the biggest recent controversies – whether Sweden should join Nato and its handling of Covid-19 – have barely emerged in a single campaign but are instead defined by strong commitment to immigration and crime and a focus on sky-high electricity prices.
Despite ruling for eight, the Social Democrats increased their share of the vote to 30.5%, up more than 2 percentage points from 2018. The Swedish Democrats were the biggest winners. , up more than 3 percentage points to 20.7%. , while the Medium group dropped slightly to 19.1%.
The five smaller parliamentary parties on the left and right will retain their positions after reaching 4-7% each.
