Far-right expected to make gains in Swedish polls

Swedes yesterday voted in an election dominated by fears over asylum seekers and welfare, with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats vying to become the major party.

Far-right parties have made significant gains throughout Europe in recent years after the refugee crisis from 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 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 unemployment or the economy, but simply a loss of faith in the political system. Sweden isn’t alone in this.”

The centre-left political bloc that unites the governing Social Democrat and Green parties with the Left Party, is backed by about 40 per cent of voters, polls indicate, giving it a slim lead over the centre-right Alliance bloc.

The Sweden Democrats, who want the country to leave the EU and put a freeze on immigration, have about 17 per cent, up from the 13 per cent they attained in the 2014 vote, opinion polls suggest.

“Everything points to us having a good election,” their leader Jimmie Akesson said at a party rally in the southern town of Malmo on Saturday, which drew supporters as well as chanting protesters.

The party’s support was underestimated before the last election and some online surveys give them as much as 25 per cent of voter support, a result that would probably make them the major party, with the Social Democrats dethroned for the first time in a century.

“It would send a big ‘go to hell’ message to me and my kind,” said Stefan Jovanovic, 26, a music business manager whose family roots are in Serbia.

The Sweden Democrats are bidding to become the biggest populist party in the Nordic region, topping the Danish People’s Party, which gained 21 per cent in 2015, and the 12.6 per cent for the far-right Alternative for Germany.

With an eye on the European Parliament elections next year, Brussels politicians are watching the Swedish vote closely, concerned that a nation with impeccable democratic credentials could add to the growing chorus of euro-scepticism in the EU.

Sweden took in more asylum seekers per capita than any other country in Europe in 2015, magnifying concerns about a welfare system that many voters believe is in crisis.

If the Sweden Democrats receive a quarter of votes, the Social Democrats could be dethroned for the first time in a century