With almost 21% of the vote, the Democrats of Sweden become the first right-wing party and above all the key to accession to power for the conservatives, who come second just behind – and have been prancing impatiently for 8 years on the benches of the opposition: “We are the second largest party in Sweden (…) Our ambition is to be part of a new majority government“.
Victorious @jimmieakesson leads the Letkajenkka. #SD22 #sd2022 #valet2022 #ruotsinvaalit pic.twitter.com/mNRD37u2mJ
— Matias Turkkila (@MatiasTurkkila) September 11, 2022
Sweden, a land of historical moderation dominated by social democracy, had always established a republican “sanitary cord” around the extreme right; but to win these elections, the right broke a taboo by choosing her as a partner. And she is about to win her bet.
The Democrats of Sweden have transformed themselves to present themselves as a dyed-in-the-wool nationalist party. The man of demonization is Jimmie HASkesson. When he arrived at the head of the formation in 2005, he was barely 26 years old, the Swedish Democrats vegetated at 1% in the polls. He hunts down bad apples, neo-Nazis and other Waffen SS nostalgics who are among their members. It also changes its logo: in the trash the torch a bit aggressive, make way for a small harmless blue anemone with a yellow heart.
Sweden. The leader of the Swedish Democrats @jimmieakesson voted in the legislative elections taking place today. pic.twitter.com/swwDAgp9ZW
—Lionel Baland (@LionelBaland) September 11, 2022
He himself becomes the symbol of this normalization: with his glasses, his well-trimmed beard and his parting on the side, he embodies an ordinary and courteous Swede. Genre “who grills sausages, goes on a charter vacation to the Canary Islands and lives in a nice little housing estatet…”, as Jonas Hinnfors, professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, told AFP.
As the polls went by, the Swedish Democrats pocketed more and more votes. In recent years, to facilitate their rapprochement with the right, the Swedish Democrats have even abandoned the idea of a “Swexit”, an exit from the European Union. They are also in favor of their country joining NATO.
But their stock in trade is always the fight against immigration: Jimmie HASkesson, who dreams of restoring the Sweden of the past, sees Muslims as “the biggest threat since World War II“. Speech which finds a favorable echo in a country which has welcomed more than 300,000 refugees since the 2015 migration crisis. A record in the European Union in relation to the number of inhabitants (10 million).
The other theme of the campaign which has worked in its favor is the rise in insecurity: since the beginning of the year, there have been around forty homicides by firearm and 250 shootings linked to violence between gangs. All parties have taken up the subject. Leden has also experienced in recent years a veritable inflation of bills that criminalize activities. MBut the extreme right has particularly made its honey out of it.
If the victory of the right-wing coalition is confirmed on Wednesday, the Swedish Democrats will be able to claim to occupy a few portfolios in the new Swedish government, the very one which will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on January 1, 2023.