Stockholm Sweden is at a turning point. The right-wing extremist Sweden Democrats could soon become part of the government, while the Social Democratic Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has to worry about her re-election on September 11th. The more than 100-year dominance of the social democrats is history.
For the first time since the Sweden Democrats entered the Swedish Parliament 12 years ago, both the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats have signaled that they can envisage a government involving the far right. So far, all bourgeois parties have kept the Sweden Democrats, who emerged from the neo-Nazi scene, at a distance.
Given the sharp increase in violence in the suburbs and the failed integration policy, the right-wing extremist party under its chairman Jimmie Akesson has apparently struck a chord with many Swedes with its xenophobic slogans.
In the polls, the Sweden Democrats are currently at 20 percent, putting them in second place behind the governing Social Democrats (29.5 percent). The right-wing extremists were thus able to clearly outperform the previous number two, the conservatives (18 percent).
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The two political camps – Social Democrats, Center, Left and Greens on the one hand, Conservatives, Christian Democrats, Liberals and Sweden Democrats on the other – are now almost equal in all polls.
The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats.
(Photo: IMAGO/TT)
It is above all organized gang crime that has brought voters to the Sweden Democrats. Hardly a day goes by without shootouts between hostile gangs.
So far, the major cities of Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö have been affected, but the violent clashes between rival gangs are increasingly shifting to medium-sized cities such as Eskilstuna, Linköping and Helsingborg. This year alone, up to the end of August, 46 people have been killed in shootings between gang members. For all of last year, the death toll in such shootings was 45.
Social Democrats want to increase police force
This puts Sweden in a sad top position in Europe. Sven Granath, criminologist with the Stockholm police, sees several reasons for the increase in violence: “It is probably due to a combination of the import of illegal weapons after the Balkan war, a growing drug trade and an increased number of young men living in very insecure circumstances grew up without a school diploma.”
No party has a panacea for fighting gang crime. Nevertheless, they try to outbid each other with proposals. On Thursday last week Prime Minister Andersson declared that her Social Democrats want to increase the number of police forces to a total of 50,000 if they win the elections within the next ten years. There are currently almost 36,000 police officers. “This is the most comprehensive measure Sweden has ever had,” she said.
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That’s not enough for the opposition: the leader of the Conservatives, Ulf Kristersson, criticized the fact that the Social Democratic government had had enough time to arm the police force. “After eight lost years, we want a fresh start for the police,” he countered.
According to surveys, the question of law and order ranks second behind the grievances in the health and care sector as the most important issues for Swedes – ahead of immigration and integration.
The planned NATO membership after more than 200 years of non-alignment plays no role in the election campaign. This is also due to the fact that almost all parties are in favor of accession. On the other hand, high energy prices and inflation of around eight percent are ongoing issues. For a long time, Sweden had the lowest electricity prices in the EU. Triggered by the Russian attack on Ukraine, electricity prices are now at the average EU level.
Prime Minister Andersson prepared her compatriots for a “war winter” at the weekend and announced that she would support the energy industry with loan guarantees amounting to 250 billion crowns (23.2 billion euros). This is intended to prevent individual companies from getting into financial difficulties because of the stopped gas deliveries from Russia and the associated price increases.
Forming a government becomes challenging
Andersson’s minority government had already tried to keep the burden on households as low as possible with a tank discount and subsidies for electricity prices.
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Regardless of which political camp wins the majority in the elections, forming a government will be extremely difficult. Both sides have reservations about potential coalition partners. It is unlikely that the Social Democrats will form a minority government again.
But the possible coalition partners of the Social Democrats, Center Party, Greens and Left Party, each exclude the other partner in a government. In addition, Prime Minister Andersson wants the former communist Left Party as a supporting party, not as a government partner.
The governing prime minister fears for her re-election.
(Photo: dpa)
There is a similar picture on the other political side. The Sweden Democrats, as the second-strongest party, are demanding government participation if the middle-class bloc wins the elections. However, the Liberals would only participate in or support such a government if the Sweden Democrats were not given a ministerial post. All that remains is a grand coalition of social democrats and conservatives. However, with the exception of the Second World War, this has no tradition in Sweden.
Obviously, Prime Minister Andersson also fears extremely difficult coalition negotiations and therefore does not want to rule out anything except cooperation with the Sweden Democrats. “But the Conservatives are not my first alternative,” she said evasively this week.
Long and difficult negotiations to form a government await Sweden. For the political scientist Mikael Gillijam from the University of Gothenburg, the key to who will govern Sweden in the future lies with the Liberals and the Center Party: “It is these two parties that will have a significant influence on the formation of the government.” Parties could also cause surprises. “On September 12, the voters have nothing more to say, and then we will hear completely new tones from the Liberals and the Center Party.”
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