Far right makes gains in Sweden
Country heads for hung parliament as anti-immigrant nationalist party wins 17.8pc of vote
SWEDEN was headed for a hung parliament last night after a surge by the nationalist Sweden Democrats, a party with neo-Nazi roots.
In one of Europe’s most liberal nations, it was the latest in a series of spectacular gains for far-right parties across the continent.
The gains have come amid growing anxiety over national identity and the effects of globalisation and immigration following armed conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.
In Sweden, an influx of 163,000 asylum seekers in 2015 – the highest in Europe in relation to the country’s population of 10 million – has polarised voters and fractured the political consensus.
Partial results, with some 80pc of districts counted, showed the ruling centre-left Social Democrats and Greens and their Left Party allies winning 40.6pc of the vote, while the opposition centre-right Alliance were seen at 40.1pc.
The Sweden Democrats, founded by white supremacists, rose to 17.8pc from 12.9pc in the last election four years ago, in effect securing the balance of power.
Their result looked set to fall short of their own leaders’ predictions of a vote of 20pc or more. Nevertheless, their leader Jimmie Akesson told a party rally: “We will gain huge influence over what happens in Sweden during the coming weeks, months and years”.
With neither main bloc able to command a majority, the Sweden Democrats – who want the country to leave the EU and put a freeze on immigration – could play a decisive role in negotiations over forming a government.
Those negotiations to thrash out a compromise look set to be complex and drawn-out.
Mr Akesson challenged Ulf Kristersson, the centre-right Alliance’s candidate for the premiership, to choose between seeking support from the Sweden Democrats and the incumbent Social Democrat prime minister, Stefan Löfven.
The election will add to the concerns in Brussels as the EU enters campaign mode in the run-up to the European Parliament election in May.
That campaign could end up giving more voice to eurosceptic groups and thwart efforts at closer EU integration.
In Sweden, the record levels of asylum seekers in 2015 magnified worries about a welfare system that many voters already believe is in crisis, even though the numbers of refugees arriving have fallen sharply since then.
Lengthening queues for crit- ical operations, shortages of doctors and teachers and the failures of police to deal with inner-city gang violence have shaken faith in the “Swedish model”, built on a promise of comprehensive welfare and social inclusion.
Akesson labelled the vote a choice between immigration and welfare in a campaign that was unusually antagonistic.
Voting in central Stockholm, student Katze Collmar, 32, said the campaign had been “really unpleasant”, adding: “It feels like Sweden could take a step in this election that we won’t be able to recover from very easily.”
Mainstream politicians have so far ruled out co-operation with the Sweden Democrats.
But centre-left and centre-right parties face an uphill battle in trying to form a viable coalition government.
‘We will gain huge influence over what happens in Sweden during the coming months and years’