After the votes from abroad had been counted, the incumbent government was able to announce the result that had already been foreseen on Wednesday. It is the first time that the Sweden Democrats (SD), who want to severely limit immigration, will have government influence. So far, the other right-wing parties in Sweden did not want to cooperate with the party, partly because of the right-wing extremist past of the party. This taboo has been released partly because of the strong growth of the SD. The party won 20.6 percent of the vote on Sunday, making it Sweden’s second-largest party. A tolerance construction, in which the SD co-determines policy but does not supply ministers, seems to be preferable.
The Social Democrats of current Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson became the largest with more than 30 percent of the vote. Nevertheless, she announced her resignation on Wednesday evening, because the center-left coalition she desired no longer has a majority. The leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, on the other hand, declared victory. “It’s time to put Sweden first.”
Very narrow majority
In Sweden, parties join a political bloc with a prime minister candidate prior to the elections. The center-right bloc won a narrow majority. Due to the minimal difference, it remained tense until the last minute on Wednesday, when the last ballots came in, which block would win. The prime minister candidate for the center-right bloc is Ulf Kristersson of the right-wing conservative party De Gegevenden. He will have to lead the upcoming formation talks.
The advance of the Sweden Democrats comes as a shock to many Swedes. The party was founded in 1988 by two Swedes who were active in the neo-Nazi movement. Although the party has long dismissed members with neo-Nazi sympathies, SD politicians are still regularly involved in racist scandals.
The party first entered the Swedish parliament in 2010 under the leadership of current party leader Jimmie Åkesson and has grown in every national election since. In recent times, the party has benefited from the fact that gang crime and segregation were major election themes. At least 47 people have been killed in shootings this year. Many of the shooters were young people with a migration background from highly segregated suburbs.
Reduction of asylum influx
In exchange for their support of tolerance, the Sweden Democrats will demand a substantial reduction in the asylum influx. The party campaigned promising to bring the influx of immigrants to ‘near zero’. In addition, the party demands that migrants without permanent residence permits do not receive benefits. The party also wants to punish gang members twice as severely. Although the SD is considered to be a radical right-wing party, the party has a left-wing profile on socio-economic issues. For example, the Sweden Democrats are arguing for higher unemployment benefits, higher pensions and the inclusion of dental care in the basic package.
The latter plans clash with those of the intended coalition partners and will make negotiations difficult. One of the parties on the right, the Liberals, seems divided on working with the SD. The retiring Prime Minister Andersson alluded to this on Wednesday evening. “We’ll be ready to take back power if things change.”
The change of power is unlikely to affect Sweden’s candidate for NATO membership. The right-wing parties are also in favor of joining the military alliance because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.