(Stockholm) Sweden is heading for a one-hit victory for the right allied with the far right after a tense election on Sunday, but the final result is not expected to be confirmed for at least three days.
Updated yesterday at 7:37 p.m.
According to the partial results covering nearly 92% of the polling stations, the bloc led by the leader of the conservative party of the Moderates Ulf Kristersson would win an absolute majority of 175 to 176 seats, against 173 to 174 seats for the left bloc of the outgoing Social Democrat Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
The big winner of the evening was the nationalist anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) party led by Jimmie Akesson, which, with a score of 20.7%, set a new record and became the leading right-wing party, but also Sweden’s second party.
“It smells damn good,” he said to his molten troops at his campaign headquarters.
The election night was marked by a rollercoaster ride: while the exit polls and the first preliminary results suggested a narrow victory for the left, the rights went ahead as the counting progressed and now seem to be on the way. to win.
Based on the votes counted around 1 a.m. (11 p.m. GMT), the right-wing bloc (SD, Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals) would win 49.7% of the vote. The left bloc (Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens and Center Party) would bring together 48.8%. That is only about 60,000 votes behind, for an electorate of 7.8 million people.
The electoral authority warned that the final result would not be known until Wednesday, the votes of Swedes abroad and some votes in advance could not be counted before.
“We won’t have a final result tonight,” declared Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, who did not throw in the towel with a nice score for her party, beyond 30%.
Count all the votes
“Swedish democracy must run its course, all votes must be counted and we will wait for the result,” said the 55-year-old incumbent leader, who hoped to secure a third term on the left on Sunday evening.
Never until these legislative elections has the traditional Swedish right, supported by the conservative candidate for the post of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, had considered governing with the direct or indirect support of the SD.
Long a pariah, the nationalist and anti-immigration party led by Jimmie Akesson now finds itself in a position of strength.
“It says a lot about how far we’ve come, how little party everyone laughed at, and today we are Sweden’s second largest party,” the 43-year-old far-right leader told his overheated supporters.
“Our ambition is to be in government,” he repeated, although the party is more likely to content itself with supporting the new majority in parliament.
Significant immigration and deadly settling of scores between criminal gangs in Swedish suburbs have fueled the far-right party in recent years. These themes, along with soaring fuel and electricity prices, dominated the campaign.
Entering Parliament for the first time in 2010, with 5.7% of the vote, the SD have continued to progress since then and now exceed 40% in some municipalities, particularly in the south of the country.
A victory for the right supported by the far right would mean a new political era for Sweden, which is due to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on 1is January and finalize its historic candidacy for NATO.
To be invested, a Swedish prime minister must not have 175 or more votes against him, but not necessarily an absolute majority in his favour.