(Stockholm) The outgoing left is given slightly ahead of the unprecedented bloc between the right and the far right after the hotly contested legislative elections in Sweden on Sunday, marked by a record level of the nationalist party.
Posted yesterday at 2:53 p.m.
According to two exit polls, the left camp led by Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson would obtain a total of between 49.8% and 50.6%, against 48.0% to 49.2% for the total right/extreme right.
The extreme right Sweden Democrats (SD) would reach a new historic high of between 20.5% and 21.3%, becoming the second largest party in the Nordic country for the first time, according to these two polls carried out for Swedish television SVT and TV4.
According to the poll conducted by SVT, the left bloc would win a total of 176 seats, just above the absolute majority of 175, against 173 for the right/extreme right bloc.
These first tight estimates, which were expected, promise a long election night to confirm the winners of this election with an unprecedented scenario. Partial results are expected around 10 p.m. (8 p.m. GMT), before near-final results late at night.
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.
PHOTO JONAS EKSTROMER, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Conservative candidate Ulf Kristersson
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 two polls by SVT and TV4, the Social Democrats have held their first place since the 1930s as expected (29.3 to 29.7%). The Conservatives of the Moderates would only be the third party, with 16.0 to 18.8%.
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 – also supported by the right.
Conversely, a victory for the left and a defeat for the new nationalistico-conservative bloc would call into question the decision of the right to draw closer to the SD.
A total of 349 seats 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.
The campaign was dominated by themes likely to favor the right-wing opposition: criminality and deadly gang settling, soaring fuel and electricity prices, integration problems…
But the solid popularity of Mme Andersson, whose trust rating exceeds that of his conservative rival Ulf Kristersson, as well as the bogeyman of the far right, argued for the left.
On the eve of the vote, the five polling institutes gave a very slight lead to the red-green camp.