Conservatives lead in Sweden poll
In preliminary count, ruling left bloc was seen losing ground as changes loom
The count in Sweden’s weekend election took a dramatic turn on Monday morning when a right-wing coalition took a narrow lead over a left-wing coalition led by the ruling Social Democratic Party.
Exit polls late Sunday night had indicated a narrow lead for the left-wing coalition, with 49.8 percent of the vote to the right-wing alliance’s 49.2 percent.
But results from Monday morning showed the right-wing coalition expected to win 176 of the 349 seats in parliament, with left-wing parties taking 173 seats.
The election result, which is too close to be called, will not be made public until Wednesday at the earliest, when all postal and advance ballots have been counted, according to Sweden’s electoral authority.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s social democratic party, which has ruled for the past eight years and dominated Sweden’s political scene since the 1930s, is still the largest single party and so far receives 30.5 percent of the vote. But her leftist coalition of four parties has failed to secure enough seats in the Riksdag, known as the Riksdag, to form a government.
In contrast, the Sweden Democrats, a right-wing populist party led by Jimmie Åkesson, has emerged as the biggest winner by getting almost 21 percent of the vote, making it on track to become the second largest party in the Riksdag. Åkesson’s party overtook the traditional conservative opposition Moderates, which so far only received 19 percent of the vote.
The Sweden Democrats, known for their anti-immigration stance, received only 5.7 percent of the vote in 2010 when the party entered the Riksdag, but its share rose to 17.5 percent in 2018.
Akesson indicated that he will not become the new prime minister but his party will become part of the government. The moderate party leader Ulf Kristersson is expected to take the top job. “Right now it looks like there will be a change of power. Our ambition is to sit in the government,” Åkesson told supporters on Sunday.
The Sweden Democrats have been described as having their roots in white nationalism.
“We don’t know what the result will be. But I am ready to do everything I can to form a new, stable and powerful government for all of Sweden and all its citizens,” Kristersson told his supporters at a rally.
Growing concerns over gang-related shootings, immigration and integration issues, soaring electricity prices and high inflation have been key issues in the election.
Final results are expected
“The final result is expected on Wednesday, and then the formal processes can start. But it will not be easy or quick,” Carl Bildt, former Swedish prime minister and former leader of the Moderates, said in a tweet on Monday. referring to the formation of a new government under Kristersson.
On Monday, Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of the European Center for International Political Economy who once served in the Swedish Foreign Ministry, told China Daily: “The Sweden Democrats have become the second largest party, overtaking the traditional conservative bloc, leading Sweden into a path we have seen in Austria, Italy and Poland: A weak right-wing opposition that opens up for a parliamentary alliance with the extreme right sees itself sooner or later replaced by the newcomers.”
Right-wing parties have gained ground with their anti-immigration policies in Europe lately. In the French presidential election in April, the anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen lost to Emmanuel Macron by a much narrower margin than in the 2017 election.
Ding Chun, director of the Center for European Studies at Fudan University, said the influence of the right in Europe reflects the negative effects of globalization. “The growing problem of people’s livelihoods and the dissatisfaction among people, especially in advanced member states, about the EU’s coordination on related issues makes people seek self-protection,” he said.