Exit polls: Social Democrats set to be largest party
Far right makes gains in Sweden’s vote on ‘immigrants and their integration’
Far-right Sweden Democrats expected to come in lower than what opinion polls had suggested |
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s Social Democrats appeared to be the largest party in yesterday’s legislative elections, with exit polls projecting gains for the far-right though they looked poised to come in far behind the top vote-getter.
A TV4 exit poll predicted the Social Democrats would win 25.4 per cent of votes, while public broadcaster SVT credited them with 26.2 per cent. Both scores, if confirmed, would make them the biggest party but would represent their lowest in more than a century.
The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), which have capitalised on voters’ frustration over immigration, were expected to make strides but come in lower than what opinion polls had suggested during the campaign, both exit polls showed.
SD leader Jimmie Akesson had said he hoped to win between 20 to 30 per cent of votes.
In the TV4 poll, the conservative Moderates were expected to come in second at 18.4 per cent, while SD was credited with 16.3 per cent of votes, up from 12.9 per cent four years ago. The SVT poll, meanwhile, put SD in second place at 19.2 per cent, trailed by the Moderates at 17.8 per cent.
Lofven had called the election a “referendum on the future of the welfare state” but SD presented it as a vote on immigrants and their integration, after Sweden took in almost 400,000 asylum-seekers since 2012.
SD, with roots in the neo-Nazi movement, has said the arrival of asylum-seekers is a threat to Swedish culture and claims they put a strain on the country’s generous welfare state.
“Everything suggests we’re going to have a good election,” SD leader Jimmie Akesson told news agency TT after voting in Stockholm earlier yesterday.
Meanwhile, Lofven had urged Swedes not to vote for what he called a “racist party” as he cast his ballot.
“It’s... about decency, about a decent democracy. And the Social Democrats and a Social Democratic-led government is a guarantee for not letting the Sweden Democrats extremist party, racist party, get any influence in the government.”
The Social Democrats, traditionally the biggest party, have led a minority government with the Greens since 2014.