Sweden Swings Right: Anti-immigration Party to Set for Election Gains

After an election on Sunday dominated by fears over asylum seekers and welfare, Sweden is headed for a hung parliament as the election that saw support for the nationalist Sweden Democrats surge which to become the biggest party in a country long seen as a bastion of liberal values.
Sweden’s two main blocs – the governing centre-left coalition and the centre-right alliance – both won around 40 per cent of the vote. Meanwhile, the Swedish Democrats (SD), the far-right, anti-immigration party, won around 18 per cent of the vote, up from 12.9 per cent in the previous election.
The Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the white supremacist fringe, won 17.6 percent and 63 seats, up from 12.9 per cent and 49 seats in the last election four years ago, the biggest gain by any party in Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag.
The results were largely in line with the conventional opinion polls tracked by Reuters in the run-up to the election but well below some online surveys that had predicted the Sweden Democrats could become the largest party.
Far-right parties have made spectacular gains throughout Europe in recent years as anxieties grow over national identity and the effects of globalization and immigration following armed conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.
Dr Ben Wellings, a senior lecturer in politics and international relations at Monash University, told SBS News the result was “part of an emerging picture where support for radical right parties is creeping upwards”.
“Traditional parties have failed to respond to the sense of discontent that exists,” said Magnus Blomgren, a social scientist at Umea University.
“That discontent maybe isn’t directly related to unemployment or the economy, but simply a loss of faith in the political system. Sweden isn’t alone in this”.
> Shatabdi Sarker Poushi