Immigration concerns continued the shift in Sweden’s voting patterns on Sunday, with a significant shift toward votes for the Sweden Democrats.
This is what the outcome looks like late Sunday evening (with 85% of the vote counted), Swedish time, with change from the last election and expected parliamentary seats in parenthesis
Nordstjernan
Socialdemokraterna (The Social Democrats): 28.4% (-2.8, 100)
Moderaterna (The Moderate party): 19.8% (-3.5, 70)
Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden democrat): 17.6% (+4.7, 63)
Centerpartiet (The Center party): 8.6% (+2.4, 31)
Vänsterpartiet (The Left party): 7.9% (+2.2, 28)
Kristdemokraterna (Christian Democrats): 6.4% (+1.8, 23)
Liberalerna (The Liberals): 5.5% (+0.1, 19)
Miljöpartiet (The Greens): 4.3% (-2.4, 15)
Sweden currently has two blocs of politically allied groups. The first is the Center-Left group, consisting of the Social Democrats, the Left, and the Greens. The second is the Center-Right group, consisting of the Moderates, Center, Christian Democrats and the Liberals.
The Center-Left coalition will have 143 seats in the Swedish Parliament and the Center-Right will have 142. Neither will have the capacity to get to half of the 349 seats without the aid of the one group that is not in a coalition, the Sweden Democrats.
The Sweden Democrats are a party with neo-Nazi roots. In 2005, however, Jimmie Akesson took over control of the party and immediately started to distance itself from its fascistic roots. They retain a strong claim to nationalism, but have clearly stated their abandonment of racism.
Their party statements, however, haven’t been reflected by the actions and statements of party members, some of which have been caught engaging in racist statements and activity. Last month alone, fourteen party officials were removed after being exposed as current or former members of neo-Nazi organizations.
Because of their associations, neither of the Swedish alliances has welcomed the Swedish Democrats into their fold. Now, however, with more than 1 out of every 6 votes in the election cast for them, they are claiming a position of influence.
Jimmie Akesson addressed his supporters on Sunday evening.
He said he was interested in cooperating with the other parties, and wanted to tell the Moderates in particular “how to govern the country … We strengthen our kingmaker role. We will will have an immense influence over what happens in Sweden in the coming weeks, months, years.”
The Guardian
The Sweden Democrats do not have enough support to run their country, but they now have enough to strongly influence the decisions of those who wish to run it.
