As the final results of Sweden’s parliamentary elections are awaited, the conservative right-wing/far-right coalition is poised to celebrate its rise to power.
The Scandinavian country is once again facing a period of uncertainty regarding the formation of a government, as the majority in parliament is expected to be narrow.
After a night of unexpected twists and turns, the country’s electoral authority announced that the announcement of the final results would have to wait until Wednesday, as the situation remains fluid and the margins are very narrow.
According to the results so far, which represent 95% of the polling stations, the coalition led by Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderates on the Swedish right, has secured a narrow majority, winning 175–176 seats out of a total of 349 in parliament. In contrast, the center-left bloc led by outgoing Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is projected to secure 173–174 seats.
If the above is confirmed, the center-left will leave power after eight years of governing Sweden.
The big winner of election night is undoubtedly the far-right, anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats (SD), led by Jimmy Åkesson. Currently, it is setting a new record with 20.7% and has become the second-strongest party in the country.
Although exit polls and initial results had predicted a narrow victory for the center-left, as more polling stations were tallied, the situation changed dramatically. The conservative coalition is projected to receive 49.8% of the vote, while the center-left bloc is projected to receive 48.8%. The difference amounts to approximately 60,000 votes out of an electorate of 7.8 million.
Political analysts, however, consider it unlikely that the balance of power will shift once the uncounted votes (such as those of Swedes living abroad) are tallied.
These parliamentary elections in Sweden are taking on historic significance, as never before has the traditional Swedish right considered governing with the direct or indirect support of the far right.
Until recently an outcast on the Swedish political scene, the SD party now holds a position of power. Since first winning seats in parliament in 2010 (5.7%), it came in third in 2014 (12.9%), and in 2018 it further increased its share of the vote (17.5%). Today, it stands as the second-strongest party: with 20.7% nationally and a share exceeding 40% in certain municipalities in the south of the country.
Immigration and the rise in crime have given the far-right party a boost in recent years. Along with rising fuel and electricity prices, these were the issues that dominated the election campaign.
Sweden's next government will be called upon to complete the country's accession to NATO, a process that is threatened by a Turkish veto.
Sweden will assume the presidency of the European Union on January 1. And while the Swedish Democrats may have abandoned the idea of the country leaving the European Union, they remain staunchly Euroskeptic.
