Sweden goes to the polls - and the strengthening of the right threatens to devour the cards

Sweden holds general elections on Sunday and the race is tighter than ever: the Social Democratic Party, led by the Prime Minister, this year is facing tougher competition than ever from the far-right camp.

I put my hopes in the younger and more progressive generation"

Tali Goldstein and Tal Ila Shafran

10/09/2022

Saturday, September 10, 2022, 7:09 p.m. Updated: 7:24 p.m.

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Sweden will hold a general election on Sunday, September 11, and the race is tighter than ever.

The left-wing Social Democratic Party, which was the strongest in every round of elections in the last hundred years, is facing a tougher challenge than ever from the parties on the right this year.

Incumbent Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson may, once again, be the one to form the next government, if her party wins the majority of seats and if she manages to form a stable coalition with other parties on the left and center.

On the other hand, there may be a right-wing coalition government led by the extreme right-wing party - the Swedish Democrats.

The people love her.

The current Prime Minister (Photo: Reuters)

Sweden has indeed been perceived all these years as a liberal and progressive country, and many ideas that are adopted over time in Europe, such as gender equality or LGBT rights, came out of it. However, this year, it is faced with the rise of the Swedish Democrats from the extreme right, whose roots lie in white nationalism and fascism, and because of this with issues of immigration, law and order.

According to Karolina, 22, a master's student in environmental quality at Lund University, this year's election was mainly focused on dirty campaigns and mutual insults. The young man whose views are more progressive," she tells Walla.

Karolina also refers to the strengthening of the right, and describes the leader of the far-right Swedish Democrats, Emi Oksson, as a "racist who hates women, who has the ability to garner support through populism reminiscent of Donald Trump in the United States."

"I thought that after the previous elections he would resign, and he did take a break, but now he's back worse than ever," he says angrily.

Remembers Trump, Amy Oxon (photo: official website, Wikipedia)

Nathan, 23, a student from Lund (originally from Gothenburg), is also worried about the situation.

"There is a lot of racism on the right, but now racist rhetoric is also heard from parties closer to the center," he tells Walla.

"Crime is rampant and inflation is high, especially electricity prices. Both sides say almost the same thing, and I don't really believe anyone. But if the right-wing bloc wins, the extreme right-wing party could be part of the government, and that scares me," he adds.

"What worries me most is the crisis in the health system, there are so many workers missing that people have to wait in line for important surgeries and sometimes die before their turn arrives. Women in labor have to fly to Finland to give birth," he explains.

"The problem is that in Sweden each region has a different healthcare system, and the entire system is not equal between the big cities and the periphery. They have been talking about this for years but the situation is not improving, people also do not want to work in hospitals in the current situation. Usually the left is better at dealing with such issues, and this is one The reasons why I will vote for the Labor Party."

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the other right-wing parties

The current government in Sweden is led by the left-wing Social Democrats, with Magdalena Andersson at its head - the country's first woman to hold office.

Voters say they trust Andersson more than any other party leader, especially after she supported Sweden joining NATO - a fundamental shift in the views of the party that had previously opposed the military alliance. However, Andersson's personal popularity has no significant impact on her party's performance in the polls.

The other parties in the country are Center-right and far-right parties: the liberals, the moderates, the Christian Democrats and the extreme Sweden Democrats.

"Immigration is the only reason the Sweden Democrats exist in the first place, they oppose immigration and that is their platform," said Pontus Odelman, a politics lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, to the "Euro News" website. The party was actually born from the neo-Nazi movement of the 80s,

Oxon, the party leader, has been an MP for more than a decade.

During his tenure as head of the party, he worked to moderate and detach it from its previous image rooted in fascism.

He also managed to lead the party to unprecedented popularity since it crossed the threshold in 2010 for the first time with 20 MPs.

Muslim immigrants in Sweden (Photo: GettyImages)

Olaf Christerson, veteran politician, former minister and leader of the moderate right-wing party.

Traditionally, it is the most important opposition party in Sweden.

However, Kristerson is leading it at a time when support has declined, while voters have started to squint to the right towards the Sweden Democrats.

If the moderates are not part of the next government, and if Kristerson is responsible for them only coming in third place, after the Sweden Democrats - his status as a leader may be at risk.

Abba Bush is the leader of the Christian Democrats.

She does not hide her views regarding immigration, especially from Muslim countries, and regarding the effect that this immigration had on the tradition and lifestyle in Sweden.

What do the polls predict?

Based on recent surveys, the picture appears to be complex.

Out of three polls published recently, two showed that Anderson and her party, with a bloc made up of the Green Party and left and center parties, would win the elections.

Another poll gave the victory by a small margin to the far-right and right-wing parties in the bloc led by the Swedish Democrats, the Moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals.

"The bottom line," says Nathan, "these elections are similar to the elections four years ago: the same issues, the same parties, the same fights, it doesn't feel like things have improved, on the contrary. I hope that this time it won't be four or five months before a government is formed." .

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