STOCKHOLM, Sept 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s left wing bloc was neck-and-neck with the opposition right-wing in Sunday’s general election amid a far-right surge, with votes in more than three-quarters of electoral districts counted.
The right wing bloc was credited with a majority of 175 of 349 seats in parliament, with the left bloc trailing with 174.
Earlier, two exit polls had given the left-wing bloc a slim lead.
Conservative Moderates leader Ulf Kristersson, who is challenging Andersson for the post of prime minister, and two other smaller right-wing parties have for the first time tied up with the anti-immigration and nationalist Sweden Democrats, which looked set to post their best election score yet.
The far-right party was seen garnering around 20.7 per cent of votes which, if confirmed, would for the first time make them the country’s second-biggest party, overtaking the Moderates, the traditional leaders of the right-wing bloc.
The election campaign has been dominated by issues close to right-wing voters, including rising gang shootings, immigration and integration issues.
While Andersson’s Social Democrats looked set to remain the country’s biggest party with 30.4 percent, the Moderates appeared to slip to third position, with 19 percent.
That would be a heavy blow to Kristersson, who orchestrated a major shift in Swedish politics by initiating exploratory talks in 2019 with the Sweden Democrats, long treated as “pariahs” by other political parties.
The two other small right-wing parties, the Christian Democrats and to a lesser extent the Liberals, later followed suit.
Prime Minister Andersson, a 55-year-old former finance minister, was vying to build a government with the support of the small Left, Centre and Green parties.
The Social Democrats have governed Sweden since 2014 and Andersson enjoys broad support among Swedes.
Sweden faces a looming economic crisis, is in the midst of a historic NATO application process and is due to take over the EU presidency in 2023. — NNN-AGENCIES
