What happened to Sweden for the extreme right to come knocking on the door of power? The Democrats of Sweden (SD), an anti-immigration party, are expected to make a big push in the legislative elections of September 9, at the expense of the traditional parties threatened by a sanctioned vote.
Vote Results In Sweden
The Social Democrats are credited with 23.8% of the vote and should remain the party of Sweden, but their allies of the Workers Party should record their worst score in a century. The SD would make a significant breakthrough to 20%, ahead of the Conservatives (17%), according to a survey of the Skop Institute published Sunday, one week before the poll. Other polls give SD in third position. With a total of 40.6%, the left would be ahead of the line by four points.
The 2018 Sweden still offers its old images of Epinal with its procession of baby carriages pushed by young fathers, its helmet cyclists and its forest of “blue and yellow” flags standing on the balconies, in the shop windows. But then, how to explain the breakthrough of a party from the neo-Nazi movement in this Lutheran kingdom, in love with equality and consensus?
The campaign posters reflect the change of tone in the public debate: “No to the call to prayer”, “To speak Swedish to become Swedish is not obvious? Or “To hate or talk to each other? “. Whatever the outcome, intense bargaining will be necessary before a coalition of government will emerge that is likely to be in the minority and will need support in parliament.
Modest employees, retirees and first-time voters, some Swedes blame the outgoing Social Democrat Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, for mortgaging their well-being by opening the borders to asylum seekers perceived “as an economic and cultural threat “Says sociologist Jens Rydgren. A country of 10 million inhabitants, Sweden has received 400,000 since 2012, first under Fredrik Reinfeldt’s center-right government and then center-left by Stefan Löfven.
Far away from agglomerations, hotbeds of growth and innovation, more and more voters are also seduced by the nationalist discourse of the Democrats of Sweden who want an exit from the country of the European Union, a “Svexit”. “They often belong to the transport and construction sectors, which employ a large number of European posted workers to whom the branch minimum wage applies,” says sociologist Anders Kjellberg. “But this salary is significantly lower than the wages fixed in the collective agreements”.
The government can boast an overall good record: unemployment is at its lowest level in a decade, robust growth, contained inflation and green public finances. On the other hand, the health care system is getting worse, social inequalities are widening and segregation is growing in the suburbs where inter-band settlements left 40 dead last year.
