Swedish voters boost anti-immigration party amid high crime

STOCKHOLM — A populist anti-immigration party has surged to become Sweden’s second-largest political force after a national election dominated by fears of gang violence, which has given the once-safe Scandinavian country one of Europe’s highest levels of gun violence.

Overall, a conservative opposition bloc including the anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats, had an extremely narrow lead over the incumbent center-left with 94% of the votes counted.

Analysts expect the final tally will confirm a conservative bloc win, but the election was so close that electoral officials said they would not have the final result until outstanding postal votes and votes from abroad are counted.

With eight parties contending for seats in the 349-member Riksdag, Sweden’s parliament, none can secure a majority of 175 seats, meaning that laws can only be passed with different parties working together. The parties campaigned under two general blocs, one conservative and the other a center-left group headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Sweden’s first female prime minister.

The not-yet-final count indicated that the conservative bloc would have 175 seats and the center-left would have 174.

“It is extremely close. Things can change, but I doubt it,” said Zeth Isaksson, a sociologist at Stockholm University, who added that votes from abroad are traditionally conservative. “As it is now, it is more likely that the right side will win.”

One certainty, however, is that the result marked a success for the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, which won its best result since entering parliament in 2010. The party’s founders in the 1980s had links to fascist and neo-Nazi movements but over the past two decades it has worked to move to the mainstream under its 43-year-old leader Jimmie Akesson.

Its transformation included changing its official logo from a torch to a flower and expelling the most radical members.

Those who support it like its tough vows to crack down on crime and strictly limit immigration, while opponents fear that its historic roots make it a threat to Sweden’s democratic identity.

Mark Johnson, a 50-year-old Swedish finance worker, said while the party’s strong showing was expected, it is still shocking for many Swedes because “it’s hard to understand that we would be taking such an obvious turn to the right, to the far-right even.”

The Sweden Democrats, which won 20.6% support in Sunday’s vote, according to preliminary…