Sweden’s Tightly Contested Election Looms as Far Right Eyes Government

Polling stations across Sweden opened on Sunday for a fiercely contested general election that could see the far right enter government for the first time, or the left-wing opposition reclaim power.

Opinion polls had long given the four parties in the left-wing bloc a comfortable lead over the four-party alliance led by conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, which includes the far-right Sweden Democrats.

However, the gap narrowed to a dead heat during the final days of the campaign.

“We all knew it was going to be a very close election, I’ve said that all along,” Magdalena Andersson, the 59-year-old opposition leader and head of the centre-left Social Democrats, stated at a campaign rally in Stockholm on the eve of the vote.

“Now it’s up to voters: do they want a government totally dominated by the Sweden Democrats, or do they want a government led by me?” Andersson, who became the country’s first female prime minister in 2021-2022, asked.

Her party, which governed the Scandinavian nation for much of the 20th century and remains the largest party, has pledged to bolster the welfare state and assist struggling households with rising living costs.

Meanwhile, outgoing Prime Minister Kristersson vowed to focus on improving everyday life for Swedes, asserting that his government’s crackdown on organized crime and immigration had achieved its intended results.

An otherwise tranquil country, Sweden has endured over a decade of deadly shootings and bombings orchestrated by organized crime networks.

The violence has decreased significantly in recent years, and asylum applications have plummeted to a record low.

“We want to use our new and far better preconditions to improve the lives of ordinary people … to make Sweden great again,” Kristersson told AFP, borrowing US President Donald Trump’s famous catchphrase.

His three-party minority coalition struck a deal in 2022 with the Sweden Democrats, granting them influence over government policy, particularly regarding immigration and crime, in exchange for parliamentary support.

Far-right leader Jimmie Akesson, who has headed the party for over two decades, is now hoping to enter government, culminating the party’s meteoric rise since entering parliament in 2010.

Kristersson has promised the far right key cabinet posts if the right-wing bloc wins, with Akesson widely expected to be given the migration portfolio.

‘We’ve already won!’

Akesson expressed confidence in victory at a final election rally on Saturday in the Swedish capital.

“We’ve already won!” the 47-year-old declared to thunderous applause in Kungstradgarden Park.

“Sweden is becoming safer, better, and more Swedish,” he said, surrounded by blue and yellow campaign posters bearing the slogan “Make Sweden Sweden Again”.

Agneta Andersson, a 78-year-old pensioner, told AFP she was voting for the far-right.

“Like Jimmie, I want it to be like it was when I was young, in the old Sweden. I can’t cope with all this violence in society.”

Roman, a 22-year-old student, said he was still deliberating.

“I’m just trying to figure out which party I’m going to vote for tomorrow,” he stated.

Voting stations opened at 8:00am (0600 GMT) and will close at 8:00pm (1800 GMT), when exit polls will be published, with the first reliable results expected several hours later.

Some eight million people are eligible to vote in a country of 10.6 million where voter turnout regularly tops 80 percent.

Around half of voters have already cast their ballots in advance.

If the right-wing bloc wins the election, forming a new government would be relatively straightforward.

However, the four left-wing parties are ideologically splintered, meaning tough negotiations would be required to form a government even if they secure a majority.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

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