Far-right party close to causing huge political upset in Sweden's neck-and-neck election

[RandySF]

The far-right Sweden Democrats appear to be close to causing a huge upset in the country's neck-and-neck election cliffhanger.

The populist anti-immigration party, which emerged from the neo-Nazi movement in the late 1980s, has increased its polling at each of the past nine elections, and on Sunday looked to have gained 21% of this year's vote, according to near-final results.

If it transpires that has happened after the full count, they will become the country's second-biggest party.

Then, a bloc of right-wing parties, including the Sweden Democrats, is expected to defeat a left-wing bloc headed by Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and form government.

However, the result was so close the election authority said it would not be known before Wednesday when some uncounted votes, including those cast abroad, have been tallied.

Exit polls at first predicted victory for the incumbent left-wing coalition, but results later suggested the right-wing bloc could narrowly win.


https://news.sky.com/story/far-right-party-close-to-causing-huge-political-upset-in-swedens-neck-and-neck-election-12695555

[LuvLoogie]

1. So no NATO membership?

The Right is pro-Putin probably.

[Celerity]

3. The majority of the far right here are anti Russia/Putin, based off

centuries of conflict and threat due to our geographic position. Jimmie Åkesson, the hard RW Sweden Democrats' (SD) leader, supports the Swedish entry into NATO if Finland joins.

[brooklynite]

11. On what basis do you reach the conclusion that they're pro-Russia?

[LuvLoogie]

12. It was a question. Did you see the question mark?

[brooklynite]

13. I saw the "probably".

[LuvLoogie]

17. Well there's far right and there's far right I suppose. Probably does not mean absolutely.

But it provided context to my question.

And being far right in Europe doesn't necessarily mean anti-NATO/ pro-Russian, but it often does. Le Pen and Orban are both pro-Putin/Russia. Le Pen wants out of NATO. Orban opposes ANY European support of Ukraine against Russia and opposes their membership in either NATO or the European Union.

So probably the far right in Sweden is pro Russia, but not absolutely. And even if they are, would they oppose NATO membership?

Celerity provided the answer in Sweden's case. But I don't trust The Right ANYwhere. Do you?

[yankee87]

2. Scary stuff

There’s a worldwide threat of far right minority rule. That’s part of the problem with third parties.

[Celerity]

5. Third parties are not an inherent problem in proportional representation systems (what most of the

rest of the non US advanced word has) simply for being a third or fourth or fifth, sixth, etc party.

We do not have a first past the post, single member district, majoritarian (or plurality) system like the US has.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

8. Yes. This is a third party, used to be fourth or fifth. Maybe part of coalition government now.

No need to panic. Don’t think the neo nazi part is going to govern anything.

[Celerity]

10. Regardless of whether the Red/Greens (LW) or the Blues (RW), the far right Sweden Democrats (SD) are

now the second biggest party here, supplanting the centre right to full right wing Moderates (M, who used to be called the Conservatives).

The only larger party is mine, the centre left to left Social Democrats (S).

We have, especially for our small size in terms of population (10.2 million or so), an incredibly complex political environment. I have written on it extensively here in the past, and shall endeavour to do so again once the dust settles and we see what coalition emerges with the narrow margin that gives them the whip hand over the levers of power in the Riksdag.

The political spectrum labels here are much more in synchronisation with the rest of the advanced world than the massively slid to the right US spectrum is. Many US Democrats would be considered centre right, with some being solid right.

No US Democrat in Congress would be considered far left. Many of the things and programmes that they support are supported by most all of the parties here (albeit to varying degrees, especially when it comes to privitisation, taxes, and deregulation, wtc).

The vast, vast majority of US Republicans are off the scales hard RW when measured on our (and many other nations') spectrum.

Another large difference is that the far RW SD, whilst containing multiple parts that make up a traditional hard RW party, diverge massively from the US Republicans on economics and their support for the folkhemmet (our expansive welfare state). Also, many in the far right here are very much anti-Russian, for centuries old reasons. We do have, of course, some vermin Putin lovers, but they are in the small minority.

[Alexander Of Assyria]

15. Thank you. Appears the far right in Sweden far to the left of the Nazis in America.

So no reason to panic, despite the panic headlines?

[Celerity]

21. SD purges most all who go too far white nationalist/openly racist. The most hardcore racialists

left to a fairly large degree and went to other much smaller parues, or formed new ones like Alternative for Sweden (Alternativ för Sverige) ie AfS.

SD (NOT AfS though) itself even has some support from non-whites and/or immigrants in higher numbers than some would assume.

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternativ_f%C3%B6r_Sverige

It was founded in March 2018. The party was founded by Gustav Kasselstrand and William Hahne.

Alternative for Sweden was founded by members of the Sweden Democrat Youth, who were collectively expelled from the Sweden Democrats in 2015. As its primary questions, it advocates forced repatriation of one million immigrants and Swedish withdrawal from the European Union.

AfS ran in the Swedish general election in 2018, but failed to enter the Riksdag. With 0.31% of the vote, AfS is the second largest party without representation in the Riksdag. In the 2019 European Parliament election in Sweden the party ran on an anti-EU platform, receiving 0.49% of the vote. In November 2020 AfS announced their intention to run in the 2021 election to the Church of Sweden council. They won 1.24% of the votes giving them 3 seats in the Church council.

Also, many of the most hardcore, actual neo nazis (like Nordfront, Nordic Resistance Movement, etc) detest the Sweden Democrats. because under Jimmie Åkesson's leadership, SD has forged many ties with RW Israeli parties and groups (united in their common Islamophobia and anti-Arab sentiments). The SD leadership has gone over to Israel on multiple occasions.

[betsuni]

4. Proving that "economic anxiety" doesn't cause white people to support anti-immigration populist

parties. A country can have universal health care, free college education, equality and STILL have a lot of right-wingers. Not about economics.

[childfreebychoice]

6. Friends in France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden strongly anti illegal immigrants. Nt

[Alexander Of Assyria]

9. My friends in same countries strongly pro immigration!

[JI7]

14. Yes, and most of these people would hate Trump

so they aren't even as right wing as the Republicans here. But they still get uncomfortable with changes they see with demographics.

[Demsrule86]

18. That isn't true...these people are dangerous and you could see laws against Jews, immigrants

and other 'undesirables/minorities' not seen since Germany in the 30s. I heard recently how people here admired the new English PM...she is Trump in a skirt and with all UK's issues (they can't feed themselves), her priority is tax cuts. She also has 'flipped' (was it a flip though?) and now favors Brexit.

I will lay odds she will cut the medical and other safety net programs. Consider what conservatives have managed to do to the UK in the last 20 years. These folks may not be 'crass' like Trump but they are dangerous. And it is mostly a minority rule in these countries thanks to multiple parties.

As for Sweden, it was frightening to see a party aligned in many ways with Nazism gain power. Europe has a dark history in this regard with 100's of millions dead in WWII in Europe.

“There are rightwing populist parties in many European countries, but the Sweden Democrats have deep roots in the Swedish neo-Nazis and other racist organizations in Sweden,” said Andersson, speaking on a campaign bus emblazoned with the words Vårt Sverige kan bättre (Our Sweden can do better).

“And still today, I mean just last week, one employee at their central headquarters invited the other employees to celebrate the Nazis’ invasion of Poland during the second world war. I mean, it’s not like other parties.”

In other examples, she cited a television interview in February in which the party’s leader, Jimmie Åkesson, refused to say whether he preferred Joe Biden or Vladimir Putin, and Åkesson’s recent criticism of the Centre party leader Annie Lööf’s tone after she was the suspected target of a terror attack"

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/07/magdalena-andersson-interview-far-right-threat-sweden-election

[Just A Box Of Rain]

7. Populism sucks.

Always brings out the worst in people.

[Demsrule86]

19. It doesn't have to...these folks are really Modern Nazis. And don't let their cultured facade fool

you, they are dangerous.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

20. Inherently and always.

Populism speaks to people's worst impulses.

Political rage is incompatible with reason and fomenting rage and division is the path to power for populist demagogues.

Liberalism is dependent on reasonability in a citizenry, and populism is liberalisms greatest enemy.

Every populist movement that had ever gained power has led to human misery and grotesque violations of human rights.

Beware of populists.

[Demsrule86]

16. Tell me again about multiple parties folks and how great they are...not great.

[treestar]

22. immigration seems harder for Euro countries

they don't have the tradition we do.