Sweden faces deadlock amid far-right gains

SWEDEN woke yesterday to the prospect of weeks of political uncertainty after the country’s two rival blocs failed to secure a clear governing majority in elections that saw a boost for a far-right party amid growing discontent with large-scale immigration.

With most of the ballots counted, the governing center-left bloc had a razor-thin edge over the center-right opposition Alliance, with roughly 40 percent each.

Sunday’s election saw the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigrant party with roots in a neo-Nazi movement, win about 18 percent, up from the 13 percent it gained four years earlier.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who brought the Social Democrats to power in 2014, said he intended to remain in the job. The party emerged with the greatest share of the vote — 28.4 percent — yet looking at holding fewer house seats than four years ago.

The leader of the Moderates party that came in second, Ulf Kristersson, has already called on Lofven to resign and claimed the right to form Sweden’s next government.

Final election returns were expected later in the week. The preliminary results made it unlikely any party would secure a majority of 175 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag.

With the prospect of weeks or months of coalition talks before the next government is formed, Swedish tabloid Expressen headlined its front page yesterday: “Chaos.”