The nationalist Sweden Democrats took their biggest-ever share of votes in a general election Sunday, with preliminary results giving the center-right bloc of parties a slim majority over the incumbent center-left government.
However a large number of overseas and postal votes are still to be counted, and the outcome could change, with a definitive result not expected for several days.
With an estimated 20.6% of ballots cast, according to a preliminary count of the majority of constituencies, the Sweden Democrats have become the biggest party in the center-right bloc and the second-biggest party in the country overall.
Preliminary figures show that of the 349 seats in parliament that are up for grabs, the center-right bloc holds 176 seats, which would be enough to form a majority government, versus 173 for the opposition center-left.
Incumbent Prime Minister
Magdalena Andersson’s
Social Democrats won 30.2% of the vote.
“Whether there will be a change of power or not, we won’t know until next week,” Sweden Democrats leader
Jimmie Åkesson
said at his election night party.
“We really are a big party today. From a small…party that everyone laughed at to really challenging.”
Incumbent Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democrats won 30.2% of the vote.
Photo:
Meli Petersson Ellafi/Zuma Press
Mr. Åkesson has worked to move the party, which has its roots in neo-Nazism, away from past perceptions and more into the mainstream while remaining steadfast in his belief that mass immigration threatened both the welfare system and national security.
Those views ran counter to Swedish public sentiment that has favored inclusion and acceptance, but the country has seen a shift in the debate as fears over immigrant integration have grown, with gang violence increasing and a spate of well-publicized shootings. This saw the main parties lean toward some of the Sweden Democrats’ policies in the run-up to the election as they tried to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at WSJ.com: World News…