A group of right-wing political parties secured a razor-thin lead in Sweden’s general election, according to early results, and appear to be on course to defeat a left-wing bloc led by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
With more than 95% of the votes counted on Tuesday morning, a right-wing bloc of four parties, led by Ulf Kristersson’s center-right Moderates, had a total of 175 seats, with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats party set to record its best election result yet.
The four parties that support Andersson as prime minister, meanwhile, looked poised to win 174 seats.
Exit polls Sunday initially projected a narrow victory for Andersson’s ruling center-left Social Democrats and their allies, although the tally has since swung to the political right.
If these results are confirmed, it means the right-wing group of parties has secured a parliamentary majority which could pave the way for the bloc to try to form a government.
A conclusive result is not expected until Wednesday at the earliest, with mail-in ballots and votes from citizens living abroad still to be counted.
There are a total of eight parties (four on the right; four on the left) vying for seats in Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, or Riksdag.
Sunday’s preliminary results suggest that the Social Democrats secured 30.5% of the vote, reaffirming its position as the largest party. However, Andersson may struggle to remain in power as a result of the far-right Sweden Democrats making substantial gains.
Sweden, a Scandinavian country of roughly 10.5 million, has a reputation for being one of Europe’s most progressive states and consistently ranks among the happiest nations in the world.
The rise of the right
Once a fringe party shunned by others across the political spectrum, preliminary results showed the Sweden Democrats received nearly 21% of the vote in this weekend’s election.
It campaigned on law-and-order issues following a steady rise in gun violence that unsettled the electorate and sought to shore up support with a tough stance on migration.
The Social Democrats’ Andersson has criticized the rising popularity of the Sweden Democrats, warning that having such a party in government could have significant repercussions on the tone of political debate.
The 55-year-old economist became Sweden’s first-ever female prime minister last year and has led the country’s historic bid to join NATO following Russia’s onslaught in Ukraine.
The Sweden Democrats emerged from the country’s neo-Nazi movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have since struggled to distance themselves from accusations of extremism. The party won representation in the Riksdag for the first time in 2010 with 5.7% of the vote.
A gradual increase in national support thereafter prompted the center-right Moderate party to embrace cooperation with the Sweden Democrats in 2018. Kristersson’s Moderates had previously ruled out negotiating with the right-wing party.
‘A tragedy in many acts’
Sunday’s preliminary results saw the Moderate party get 19.1% of the vote, with leader Kristersson likely to be the right-wing bloc’s preferred candidate for prime minister.
“We don’t know what the result will be,” Kristersson told supporters, Reuters reported. “But I am ready to do all I can to form a new, stable and vigorous government for the whole of Sweden and all its citizens.”
Sony Kapoor, a climate and macro-economic professor at European University Institute, said via Twitter that the preliminary results suggested the Sweden Democrats would become the country’s largest party on the political right and potentially be able to pick the next prime minister.
“This is a tragedy in many acts,” Kapoor said.
