(Stockholm) The legislative elections in Sweden placed the outgoing left neck and neck on Sunday with the unprecedented bloc between the right and the far right, with a final result which could be decided with only one or two seats, according to partial results.
Posted at 5:54 p.m.
While the exit polls gave the left a small lead, the right led by the conservative Ulf Kristersson, supported by the extreme right Sweden Democrats (SD), is now in a position to win.
Based on the votes counted around 11:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. GMT) covering three-quarters of the polling stations, it would obtain exactly an absolute majority of 175 seats, for 49.7% of the vote.
The left camp led by Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is credited with 174 seats, with 48.8% of the vote, according to the tally made by the electoral authority.
A long night is shaping up to clarify a result that has become increasingly uncertain as the evening progresses, with differences that could be decided by a few tens of thousands, or even thousands of votes.
According to the partial results, the Democrats of Sweden become the second largest party in the Nordic country for the first time, crossing the 20% mark. They sign the strongest progression of the eight parties present in Parliament.
“It’s a nail-biting scenario,” said Mille Mikael Isberg, a 30-year-old social-democrat activist interviewed by AFP.
Never until these legislative elections, the traditional Swedish right, carried by the conservative candidate for the post of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, had considered governing with the direct or indirect support of the SD.
Long pariah, the nationalist and anti-immigration party led by Jimmie Akesson also won first place in the new right-wing bloc.
Sweden’s first female head of government, Magdalena Andersson led a “red-green” ensemble to win a third four-year term in a row for the left.
According to the partial results, the Social Democrats keep as expected their first place occupied since the 1930s, winning votes (30.4%). The Conservatives of the Moderates would drop back slightly and would only be the third party, with 19.0% of the vote.
Crime and Energy
A victory for the right supported by the far right would mean a new political era for Sweden, which is due to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on 1er January and finalize its historic candidacy for NATO.
Conversely, a new victory for the left would call into question the right’s decision to draw closer to the SD, seen as the only possible way to return to power.
Significant immigration and deadly settling of scores between criminal gangs in Swedish suburbs have fueled the far-right party in recent years. These themes, along with soaring fuel and electricity prices, dominated the campaign.
At the electoral headquarters in the suburbs of Stockholm, SD activists were jubilant at the announcement of the first estimates, waving their flags in the colors of the party, then with the hope of seeing the rights take the final advantage.
“Now we have for the first time a real chance, a real possibility not only to be an opposition party but also to be part of a new government which takes politics in a completely different direction”, reacted the number. 2 of the party, Richard Jomshof, at the microphone of SVT.
A total of 349 seats in the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament, are allocated proportionally to parties achieving at least 4%.
To be invested, a prime minister must not have 175 or more votes against him, but not necessarily an absolute majority in his favour.