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STOCKHOLM – Sweden looks set for a period of political confusion after Sunday's election results put the center-right bloc and the center-left coalition at odds, while an anti-immigration party from the far right by getting a higher voting percentage than ever before, but achieving a smaller breakthrough than suggested by the polls.
With more than 97% of the ballots counted, the National Electoral Commission reported that the center-left Social Democrats held 28.4% of the vote, making it the largest vote in the vote.
The moderate center-right party was second at 19.2%, while the far-right Swedish Democrats were third at 17.6%, compared with 12.9% in 2014, but less than many Swedes. Some polls had predicted that Swedish Democrats would come in second with more than 20% of the vote.
The red-green bloc of center-left, left and environmental parties, led by the Social Democrats, won 40.7% of the vote. The center-right alliance, led by the moderates, was just behind with 40.3%. The results mean that no bloc can command a majority in Parliament, and both rejected the idea of an agreement with the Swedish Democrats.
The campaign was unusually polarized in one country known for seeking political consensus. The main issues were also the most controversial: immigration, crime, the welfare state and, after the summer of forest fires, the environment.
For some voters, bitter debate has been a welcome change.
"In Sweden, we were too scared to discuss issues," said Anders Nilsson, 54, who voted for the center party in Botkyrka, a diverse suburb south of Stockholm. "Now we dare to discuss difficult issues."
This election has been one of the most popular in Sweden's recent history, with a focus on the performance of Swedish Democrats in the face of rising anti-immigrant populist parties in countries such as Germany, Italy and Austria.
"The eyes of the world are on Sweden and the way forward," said Annie Loof, leader of the center party, in a debate before the vote.
Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who heads a center-left minority government, warned voters on Saturday not to vote for what he called a "racist" party.
"This election is a referendum on our well-being," he said. "It's also about decency, democracy and not letting the Swedish Democrats, an extremist party, a racist party, influence the government."
Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the Swedish Democrats, told supporters on Saturday that the current government had "given asylum seekers priority over the past four years," listing the failures in health, housing and housing. retirees. "Sweden needs to breathe," he said. "We need strict and responsible immigration policies."
Sunday's results followed another recent European electoral pattern: the reduction of traditional center-left and center-right parties, which are losing votes to more extremist parties on both sides of the political spectrum, as well as to political parties. environmentalists.
In Sweden, this change has raised questions as to whether the main parties will keep their vows not to deal with the Swedish Democrats, or whether they will have to get along with the party, especially with regard to the votes crucial budget.
Major parties may try to negotiate some kind of grand coalition, but this would be unusual in Sweden, where minority governments are quite common.
"This is a new situation for Sweden," said Soren Holmberg, a political scientist who heads the SOM Institute, an independent research group at the University of Gothenburg. "What's pretty clear is that there will not be a majority on both sides, so that means we have to negotiate a lot between the blocks."
About 7.5 million registered voters chose from nearly 6,300 candidates for a four-year term in the 349-seat parliament.
Arian Vassili, a 23-year-old engineering student who voted Sunday at Botkyrka, said he supported the Social Democrats. "This is an extremely important election," he said. "It's an election about values, the way you look at people, your peers, and whether we're going to care about each other."
Maria Enberg, 42, a cook living in Botkyrka, said she voted for the center party. "The Swedish Democrats have become so big and I really wanted to vote against them. I do not want a racist party governing in Sweden. "
The rise of Swedish Democrats began in 2010, when the party passed the 4% threshold for parliamentary seats, gaining 5.7% of the vote. In 2014, its share of voting reached 12.9%, making it the third party in Sweden.
Swedish Democrats have benefited greatly since the 2015 migration wave, when 163,000 asylum seekers came to Sweden, representing around 1.6% of the population.
Under the leadership of Mr. Akesson, the party tried to soften its image. He now uses a floppy disk flower in the colors of Sweden, blue and yellow, instead of a flaming torch for the party's logo, and the party insists it will not tolerate racism. But he has campaigned for "Swedish swedish" to continue cracking down on crime and wondering if immigrants and Islam will change the country's identity.
As in Germany, stricter border controls have been put in place in Sweden and the number of new immigrants has fallen sharply to around 23,000 this year.
But Swedish Democrats have argued that immigration should stop and that resources should be used to rehabilitate Sweden's well-known welfare state, which faces the aging of the population and the challenge of taking on migrants.
For those born in Sweden, the unemployment rate was 4.4. percentage in 2017; for migrants, the number was 15.1%, according to government statistics.
During the campaign, the right-wing party spoke directly about traditionally taboo topics such as identity, Islam, integration and crime. The party, as well as the leftist party, has benefited from a general feeling of discontent and a loss of confidence in the political system.
Li Bennich-Björkman, a political scientist at Uppsala University, said it was "somehow shocking" that Swedish Democrats could go so far, but she noted that the party, which has renounced its roots in the White supremacist movement had changed.
"I would say that the bulk of their electorate is not racist and fascist," Ms. Bennich-Björkman said. "They have very successfully managed to transform themselves into a variant of the Social Democratic Party, with just more nationalist ambitions," she said.
The Social Democrats, who dominated the country for a century, built the welfare state of Sweden. But their support fell from 45% in 1994 to just over 28% on Sunday. The left party won 7.9% of the vote and the Green Party 4.4%.
The moderate party, led by Ulf Kristersson, leads the center-right bloc. He was chosen in October 2017 to lead the party when his predecessor, Anna Kinberg Batra, resigned after hinting that it would be possible to work with the Swedish Democrats. In its alliance, the Center Party won 8.6% of the vote, the Christian Democrats 6.4% and the Liberals 5.5%.
On Sunday evening, Kristersson called on the Prime Minister to resign. "This government has taken its course," he told a party rally.
The two blocks being so close to each other, negotiations on the formation of a government should be underway. "Usually, we quickly form a new government," said Holmberg, the political scientist. "This time, it could last weeks or months."
The two centrist parties moved to the right under pressure from the Swedish Democrats and pledged stricter policies on immigration, refugee integration and crime.
Daniel Suhonen, the leader of Katalys, a syndicalist research group, said that he saw "very sad" parallels in the United States for the rise of Swedish Democrats.
"They had a clear answer, like Trump," he said at a social democratic event. "They said that all the problems in Sweden are created by a corrupt elite and that has ruined the country with immigration, and you can see that in your bad pension, the lack of affordable housing for your adult children. They said you can solve it if you stop immigration.
Christina Anderson reported from Stockholm and Steven Erlanger from Brussels.
