Far-right party set for gains as Sweden votes

Swedes voted on Sunday in an election dominated by fears over asylum seekers and welfare, with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats vying to become the biggest party in a country long seen as a bastion of liberal values.

Far-right parties have made spectacular gains throughout Europe in recent years after a refugee crisis sparked by civil war in Syria and conflicts in Afghanistan and parts of Africa.

In Sweden, the influx of 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015 has polarised voters, fracturing the political consensus and could give the Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the white supremacist fringe, a veto over who forms the next government.

“Traditional parties have failed to respond to the sense of discontent that exists,” said Magnus Blomgren, a social scientist at Umea University.

“That discontent maybe isn’t directly related to unemploy- ment or the economy, but simply a loss of faith in the political system. Sweden isn’t alone in this.”

The centre-left bloc, uniting the minority governing Social Democrat and Green parties with the Left Party, is backed by about 40% of voters, opinion polls indicate, with a slim lead over the centre-right Alliance bloc.

The Sweden Democrats, who want the country to leave the European Union and put a freeze on immigration, have about 17%, up from the 13% they scored in the 2014 vote, opinion polls suggest.

“Everything points to us having a good election,” Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson told Reuters on the sidelines of a party rally in the southern town of Malmo on Saturday that drew supporters as well as chanting protesters.

“What we, the Sweden Democrats, are saying, and which is considered incredibly controversial in Sweden, is normal politics in the rest of Europe.”REUTERS

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