The nationalist and anti-immigration Swedish Democrats, long considered a political pariah in the country, now have a chance of being the second-most voted in today’s election, according to opinion polls, and could be decisive in a possible agreement with parliament’s traditional right to form a government.
The current prime minister, Social Democrat Magdalena Anderson, allied with the Green and Left parties as a solution to stay in office for four years.
But the campaign has been dominated by themes favorable to the right-wing opposition, such as crime, integration problems and rising energy prices, among others.
However, the popularity of Anderson, who has a higher confidence rating than his conservative opponent Ulf Christerson, as well as the fear of centrist voters of seeing the far right in spheres of power, could tip the balance in favor of the left.
The country’s five polls give the coalition of Social Democrats and left-wing parties a slight advantage, but only a margin of error.
“It’s very, very tight”
According to recent opinion polls, the bloc led by the Social Democrats, the main party in Sweden since the 1930s, will get between 49.6% and 51.6% of the vote.
The coalition of right-wing parties – formed by the Moderates, Christian Democrats, People’s Liberals and the Swedish Democrats – would reach 47.6% against 49.4%.
“It’s too tight,” the prime minister said as she left the polling station.
In the final two weeks of the campaign, the SD, led by Jimmy Oxon for the fifth time in a row, outperformed the moderates in voting intentions, a historical fact for the party.
“Hopefully we’re in government,” Akesson stated, as he waited for his turn to vote in Stockholm. He promised that his number one priority would be “crime reduction”.
“My country has completely changed, even though it is probably the safest in the world,” Ulrika, 56, a Social Democrat voter, told AFP, attributing the change “to the other cultures that are coming into the country.”
The prime ministership in Sweden traditionally rests with the first party of the winning coalition. However, traditional right-wing formations are reluctant to have SD ministers, let alone allow them to lead the government.
The left-wing bloc also has its own internal divisions, so negotiations to form a coalition government could extend.
A new political era in Sweden?
The victory of the right, now backed by the far right, will open a new political era for Sweden.
On the other hand, the victory of the new left would harm the strategy of convergence between the right and democracy, ending the elections without strength in the opposition.
There are 349 seats at stake, in a proportional representation system where only parties over 4% get representation.
About 7.5 million voters – out of a population of 10.3 million – are expected to vote, although the elections have already begun with early voting.
Polling stations opened at 8:00 am local time and will close at 8:00 pm, when two polling stations are expected. The most reliable partial results should be available after two hours.
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