Sweden is preparing to go to the polls this Sunday in legislative elections in which the Social Democratic Party of the current prime minister, Magdalena Anderssonwill face the conservative bloc at a historic moment for the country due to its future accession to NATO.
Andersson, the first woman to lead a government in Sweden, was elected prime minister in November 2021, although she resigned shortly after being appointed following the departure of her coalition partner, the Green Party, which decided to withdraw from the Executive after realizing that they would have to govern with accounts proposed by the opposition.
Andersson presented his resignation to the president of the Swedish Parliament, Andreas Norlen, amidst general stupor, which caused a political crisis that was resolved a few months later, when the Social Democrat was sworn in as a solo government.
This Sunday’s elections are decisive also due to the future integration of Sweden into NATO, since the parties in favor of the union control more than 40 percent of Parliament, but the far-right Swedish Democrats, led by Jimmie Akesson, do not rule out change posture and finish tipping the scales.
Another potential problem for Andersson is pressure from conservative opposition leader Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party, who also made the NATO accession process part of his election campaign.but it differed from the Social Democrats by demanding more speed and decision from the Government to accelerate incorporation.
The elections will therefore inevitably be marked by the future entry of Sweden into NATO, since last May Stockholm requested formal entry into the Alliance together with Finland in reaction to Russia’s war against Ukraine.
possible alliances
The Swedish electoral system is proportional, meaning that the number of seats a party wins in the 349-seat Swedish Parliament is proportional to the number of votes the party wins in elections. Under the voting system, any party must receive at least four percent of the vote to be allocated a seat. It should be remembered that all Swedish citizens over the age of 18 are called to go to the polls.
In the last elections, held in 2018, the Social Democrats added 28.3 percent, followed by the Moderates, with 19.8 percent, and the Sweden Democrats with 17.5, a far-right anti-immigration party key to future elections. post-election alliances within the conservative bloc.
Another key party is the Swedish Greens, which triggered the political crisis after breaking up the coalition and traditionally supported the Social Democrats along with the Left Party. The rupture forced the resignation of the coalition leader, Stefan Lofven, in June 2021. Therefore, Andersson will have to convince these minority parties to govern.
On the side of the conservative bloc, Kristersson could win the position of prime minister if he manages to promote an alliance of the right and extreme right, with the Swedish Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the liberal minority, the latter two being against agreeing with the extreme right.
According to the latest polls by the Swedish research company, Kantar Sifo, the Social Democratic Party has almost 30 percent of the support, followed by the Sweden Democrats, with 20 percent, while the Moderate Party is projected with 17 percent. .
violence on the agenda
The electoral campaign was focused on issues such as migration, the energy crisis or gang violence. Opposition leaders, the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats argue that the Andersson government took a soft stance on the fight against drug trafficking.
In particular, one of the events that triggered criticism from the opposition against the Swedish Social Democrats was a shooting that occurred last August in a playground in the city of Eskilstuna, a city of about sixty thousand inhabitants 120 kilometers from Stockholm. , the capital. A mother and child were caught in the crossfire between rival gangs. The far-right Akesson visited Arby, where the shooting took place, from where he called on the government to take serious action to tackle crime in Sweden.
“After the visit, I filed a demand on behalf of the Sweden Democrats. The next government’s most important priority must be the judiciary, and we demand that an additional twenty billion Swedish kronor per year be invested in this,” Akesson said. back then on his official Twitter profile.
Sweden moves towards NATO
Sweden is heading to break with its neutrality, by virtue of which it was left out of the two world wars and avoided aligning itself with any bloc after the fall of the Soviet Union. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was the final triggersince if in January only 37 percent of Swedes supported joining NATO, the figure now rises to 53 percent, according to a Novus poll published in May.
Turkey has not yet ratified the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO, already endorsed by two thirds of the member states because Ankara reproaches Stockholm for its relationship with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), something that the Government has already denied on several occasions. Ratification is the longest stage in the process of adhering to the military organization, with the bureaucratic procedure of all the allies who, in turn, have different validation systems and involve, in many cases, parliamentary votes.
Once all alliance members and candidates approve these protocols, the next step takes them to Washington, where the documents are deposited with the US government, specifically the State Department.