Created by conservatives and far-rights at the gates of power

It is a matter of days to say that Sweden has entered a new political era. According to partial results of legislative elections on Sunday, September 11, covering almost 95% of polling stations, an unprecedented right-wing bloc led by Ulf Kristerson, leader of the Conservative Party of Moderates, is supported by the far-right. Sweden’s Democratic Party (SD) will take an absolute majority of 175 to 176 seats against 173 to 174 seats for outgoing Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s left coalition.

The Scandinavian country’s electoral commission has warned that a final verdict on the ballot will have to wait until Wednesday, November 14, as scores are tight. If they are confirmed, the Left will be out of power after eight years.

In Sweden, the post of prime minister usually goes to the first party in the winning coalition. A total of 349 seats are allocated proportionally to parties achieving at least 4%. For investiture, a Prime Minister must have 175 or more votes against him, but not necessarily an absolute majority in his favor.

Sixty thousand votes difference

Although polls and the first preliminary results suggested a narrow victory for the left earlier in the evening, the right surged ahead as polling progressed and now appears to be on course for victory.

Based on the votes counted until midnight, the right-wing bloc (SD, Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals) will have 49.8% of the vote. The Left Bloc (Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens and Center Party) would bring together 48.8%. That means only 60,000 votes out of 7.8 million voters.

The SD party, which claims to be long pariah, nationalist and anti-establishment, won a landslide victory in the evening. The far-right organization led by Jimmie Akesson, with a provisional score of 20.7%, will become the second party in the country and the first party of the new right-wing coalition. The conservatives of the moderates trailed slightly behind with 19.0% of the vote.

“It smells good”The 43-year-old introduced the SD party leader to his melting pot of troops at his campaign headquarters, which was celebrated with chants. “Jimmy, lalalala”.

Votes from Swedes abroad and some votes cast in advance have yet to be counted, but political scientists say the result is unlikely to change.

“The final decision will not come tonight.”Prime Minister Magdalena Andersen said her party did not get a good score above 30%. “Swedish democracy must take its course, all votes must be counted and we will wait for the result”, the 55-year-old outgoing leader said on Sunday evening. Relying on a “red-green” coalition, he hopes to secure a third term in power for four consecutive years for the Left.

Major turning point

These elections mark a major turning point: until these legislative elections the traditional Swedish right was not considered to rule with the direct or indirect support of the SD.

“It says a lot about how far we’ve come, about the little party that everyone was laughing at (…) Today we’re the second party in Sweden”, in the presence of his heated supporters Mr. The SD, which entered the chamber for the first time in 2010 with 5.7% of the vote, has continued to advance since then and now exceeds 40% in some municipalities, particularly in the south of the country.

The campaign was dominated by themes favorable to the right-wing opposition: tackling crime and deadly gangs, fuel and electricity prices, integration issues…

A victory for the far-right-backed far-right would be a fundamental political shift for Sweden, which is set to take over the EU’s rotating presidency on Jan.^R January and finalize its historic candidacy for NATO.

“Now we have a real chance for the first time, not just a real chance to be an opposition party, but to be part of a new government that takes politics in a completely different direction.”The party’s number 2, Richard Jomshof, reacted to SVT’s microphone.

While the Sweden Democrats trust the ministries, other right-wing parties are reluctant to give them government portfolios, preferring them to remain in parliament. On the left too, the exact shape of an executive emerging from elections is marked by uncertainty, with disagreements between left and center parties.