Anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats celebrate election gains
The final result of Sweden’s election may still be unknown, but it is already clear who the biggest winners are: the nationalist Sweden Democrats.
Long ostracized by the political mainstream because of its roots in the neo-Nazi movement, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats are now the largest party among the right-wing opposition, holding a narrow lead over the ruling left-wing bloc with a full preliminary result only due on Wednesday.
One word was on the lips of many Sweden Democrats members of parliament who spoke to the Financial Times at a raucous party on Sunday evening on the outskirts of Stockholm. – It is revenge, said Henrik Vinge, deputy leader.
Linus Bylund, its chief of staff, added: “It’s revenge because the other parties have treated us badly – even the three [rightwing] parties on our site. But time passes and time heals.”
Should the right-wing bloc win, the Sweden Democrats are set to gain influence at the national level for the first time in the country, leaving only Germany, France and Belgium with a so-called cordon sanitaire around their far-right parties. The current gap to the ruling left-wing coalition is just 47,000 votes, which is the average size of a seat in the constituency.
Since the last two years brought the Sweden Democrats in from the cold by allying with them on issues such as crime and immigration, the mainstream centre-right bloc has said it does not want the nationalists in government, but only as a support party in parliament.
But the Sweden Democrats will likely make even greater demands now that they appear to have received more votes than probably Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s Moderates to become the second largest party. About 94 percent of the votes have already been counted, and the center-left Social Democrats continue their record of coming first in every election since 1917.
“We would like to go into government,” said Richard Jomshof, party secretary. – There is a lot of pressure from our voters. I’m not sure they would be content to stay out of government.” He even suggested the party could claim the post of prime minister, something the three centrist parties in a potential coalition are unlikely to agree to.
The Sweden Democrats have their base in southern Sweden, the entry point for most immigrants and notorious for shooting deaths in the city of Malmö.
It also means that the party is well aware of the fate of its sister group on the other side of the Öresund. The Danish People’s Party shocked the establishment in Copenhagen in 2015 by becoming the largest right-wing group but refused to enter government. It has since been all but wiped out in Denmark’s opinion polls, as voters appear to have punished the party for refusing to take office while the centre-left has stolen many of its policies.
“The Danish People’s Party’s biggest mistake was that they never dared to take an active part in the government. We want to do that. I am not here for the sake of the Sweden Democrats. I want to make a change in Sweden, says Jomshof.
The Sweden Democrats caused a shock wave when they entered parliament for the first time in 2010. Political stability has been increasingly elusive since then, with mainstream parties trying to deny them influence.
Social Democrat Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson was forced to govern twice with a right-wing coalition, resigning after just seven hours on the job at the end of last year and being saved only by a Swedish-Kurdish member of parliament who later almost derailed the country’s application to join NATO.
Kristersson, whose Moderate party lost ground despite promises to tackle crime and immigration, tried to present himself as a potential prime minister, saying he would try to unite the nation as it neared Nato membership and taking over the EU presidency on January 1.
But he faces a real battle to put together a viable coalition if the results are confirmed. A one-mandate majority would test his ability to unite the Liberals and the Sweden Democrats.
Anders Borg, former moderate finance minister, said he thought there would be a right-wing government. “On the crucial issues like migration, fiscal policy, energy and investment, I don’t think the differences will be that big,” he said.
Borg, whose wife is of Jewish origin, played down fears of the Sweden Democrats’ roots, saying they were now a “centre-right party”, adding: “I don’t think people are that worried. Sweden will be the same.”
The Sweden Democrats would join other anti-immigration parties in the Nordics to gain influence, after the Progress Party entered government in Norway and the True Finns in Finland. But none of them had their origins in a movement similar to “Keep Sweden Swedish”.
The nationalists claim they are ready for power, pointing to their experience in Sölvesborg, a small town in the south where a party member was mayor and where they increased their share of the vote on Sunday by 10 percentage points.
They feel they are also reaping the rewards of having consistently warned that Sweden’s immigration policy – among the most generous in Europe until a crash in arrivals from 2015 – would lead to an increase in crime.
“Consistency helps. This is a business of trust. Because we are conservative, our voters count on us to stand firm. We are the party that has changed at least in the last 20 years,” Bylund said.
As the pounding techno beats from their party faded on Sunday, euphoria remained for the Sweden Democrats, for the first time on the brink of national influence. Jomshof said: “This is an incredible milestone. For the first time we are a legitimate partner in a new government. We are not alone anymore.”