Dramatic election thriller extends in Sweden: Preliminary results of Swedish parliamentary elections should be known as soon as Wednesday. The Election Commission told TT news agency on Monday that only after that the votes from abroad and the late votes were counted in advance. The big winners in the election were already the right-wing national Sweden Democrats (SD).
The right-wing coalition has a slim lead over Prime Minister Magdalena Andersen’s left-wing electoral coalition, according to results by Monday. After 95 percent of the ballots were counted, the right-wing bloc won 49.8 percent of the vote, giving it 175 of the 349 seats in the parliament in Stockholm. This is one seat more than the Left Alliance, which managed to garner 48.8 percent of the vote.
In total, the two camps are separated by only a few tens of thousands of votes. Despite the narrow margin, political scientists believe the result is unlikely to reverse again.
Prime Minister Anderson, whose Social Democrats are the strongest party in parliament with more than 30 percent support, called on citizens to “be patient” and “let democracy take its course.” “We will not get the final result today,” he said. Opposition leader Ulf Kristerson indicated the outcome was still open, but had already announced his desire to “form a new and strong government”.
Kristerson’s right-wing bloc of moderates, Christian Democrats and liberals broke a deadlock before the election and entered into a coalition with the far-right Sweden Democrats for the first time. According to the votes counted so far, these come in at 20.7 percent, making them the second strongest force in Sweden’s history, ahead of the moderates with 19 percent.
Initial projections initially saw the left-leaning camp in the lead
After about half the votes were counted, the whole thing went in favor of conservative challenger Ulf Kristerson — thanks in part to a historically strong performance by the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. A tentative decision was initially expected on election night.
The head-to-head race was so close that many prominent politicians hesitated to make statements in the evening. Only one word was repeated at various election parties: “Exciting!” Swedish media talked about “Valrisare” – an election thriller.
The eight parliamentary parties in Sweden are currently divided into four groups – the left-wing and the conservative bloc. Before the election, Andersen’s party had 175 of the 349 seats in parliament, while Christensen’s constituency had 174.
The right camp probably has a slim majority
Although Kristersson’s moderates as an individual party must account for their weakest election result in 20 years, his conservative four-party coalition, including the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, was 0.9 percentage points ahead of Andersson’s camp after almost all votes were counted. The Election Commission saw his team in 176 mandates and Anderson in 173 seats.
All the leaders of the eight parliamentary parties insisted on election night that the race was far from over. “We don’t know how this is going to end,” Christerson said. At the same time, he asserted that he was ready to form a new and dynamic government.
In all likelihood, he will depend on someone who has always been marginalized in elections: the leader of the right-wing populists, Jimmy Akesson. “We are a big party today,” he cheered party supporters. In 2010 the party got 5.7 percent of the vote – now it is likely to be 20.7 percent.
We don’t know how this will end.
Ulf Christerson
For the first time, the Sweden Democrats are the second strongest force behind the moderates. This makes claims for Åkesson. He said that our aim is to be in power.
Regardless of the election results, Sweden will face a long process of forming a government since the general election four years ago. The conservative-right alliance actually backs Christensen, but Sweden Democratic Party leader Jimmy Akesson could also make demands given his party’s strong performance.
Andersson was only elected Prime Minister of Sweden in November 2021, becoming the first woman since her party colleague Stefan Löfven. Since then, the former finance minister has led a minority government made up entirely of Social Democrats, which until now relied on the support of the liberal center party, the Left and the Greens in the Reichstag.
Meanwhile, Kristerson supports moderates, Christian Democrats and liberals – and the Sweden Democrats.
The current leader was concerned about the outcome of the election
During his last campaign appearance in Stockholm on Saturday, incumbent Andersen expressed “concerns about a government that is completely dependent on the Sweden Democrats”. It will be “another Sweden, and we will have it for four years”.
His challenger Christensen is the first Conservative party leader to announce a breakthrough in his party: in 2019 he negotiated with the Nationalists. Led by Jimmy Akesson, leader of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats On that day. Later, his allies, the Christian Democrats and Liberals, followed suit.
This time the focus of the election campaign is above all on rising crime and violent gangs, immigration and failed integration, as well as rising energy prices – issues where the Sweden Democrats can score points.
The party emerged from the neo-Nazi movement
That An end to the Sweden Democrats’ political isolation And the prospect of becoming the largest right-wing party is “an enormous change in Swedish society,” said Aftonbladet’s Anders Lindbergh.
Emerging from the neo-Nazi movement of the late 1980s, the party led by party leader Jimmy Akesson entered the Swedish Reichstag for the first time in 2010 with 5.7 percent of the vote, and in 2018 they had already reached 17.5 percent.
Their rise over the past decade has coincided with a significant increase in the number of immigrants. Sweden, with a population of ten million, took in almost half a million asylum seekers during this period. A clear rejection Immigration while protecting the Swedish welfare state Sweden Democrats are popular among low-income groups and pensioners.
Voter turnout in Sweden is traditionally high: in 2018 it was 87 percent, a 30-year low. A four-month stalemate like the 2018 elections would be a nightmare this time around. The economic crisis, NATO integration and the EU Council Presidency in 2023 pose massive challenges for the future government. “The pressure to form a united and effective government is greater today than in the last election,” Barling told AFP. (AFP, dpa)
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