Swedish parliamentary elections deadlocked

[sandensea]

Source: Aftonbladet

With half of all the votes counted as of 10:45 p.m. the two leading electoral blocks in Sweden's parliamntary elections are nearly even.

The ruling Social Democrat-Left-Green coalition maintained a 0.4%, 2-seat advantage over the center-right Alliance, led by the Moderate Party.

Here are the numbers:

Left Party 8.0 %
Social Democrats: 28.2 %
Environmental Party: 4.4 %
_____________________

Center Party: 8.6 %
Liberals: 5.5 %
Moderates: 19.7 %
Christian Democrats: 6.4 %
_____________________

Sweden Democrats 17.7 %

Read more: https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/samhalle/a/karvGX/80-procent-av-rosterna-raknade--superjamnt-mellan-blocken

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Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lfven (left) debates Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson last night.

Lfven's Social Democratic-Green-Left coalition is virtually tied in exit polls with the center-right Alliance, which is calling on him to resign.

The far-right Swedish Democrats (actually more moderate than today's GOP) scored a record 16-19%.

[Codeine]

1. The Swedish Democrats are an outgrowth

of a neoNazi movement. Any “moderate” positions they take are strictly for electoral convenience.

[Fred Sanders]

2. 16 to 19% with no allies will get the "Democrats" zero political power, much like all the concern

in Germany with the same numbers turning into zero power.

19% is way less than the fascist support in America, after all.

[Codeine]

3. Agreed.

It’s a disturbing number, but I assume a fifth of the populace would be naturally oriented that way just about anywhere. Shitty people have always been and always will be.

[Fred Sanders]

4. And Swedish elections have always been "deadlocked"... but the drama of the headline...

3 blocs...left, right, and a rump of crazy...as always.

[sandensea]

6. It indeed wouldn't - if one could count on the Alliance to refrain from an ad hoc coalition w/ them

The Moderate Party-led alliance, as you know, has always prided itself in being a "liberal" coalition in the classic sense of the term (i.e. socially progressive, but pro-business).

What proved that that was no longer the case was the disastrous Carl Bildt administration in the early '90s.

Bildt ran in '91 on anti-corruption platform, fed mostly by right-wing media allegations against the Carlsson administration.

But while he was careful not to sound bigoted himself, Bildt's surrogates made it very clear that his would be an anti-immigrant government.

It worked: he won in a squeaker.

What did him in, however, was his basically adopting Bushonomics: tax cuts on the rich, service cuts for everyone else. The deficit exploded, interest rates went through the roof (this was in the pre-Euro days), and the economy tanked.

Bildt and the Alliance were run out in '94, and Carlsson (Olof Palme's former deputy) returned. The economy recovered quickly - but Social Democrats became complacent and, under Carlsson's successor Persson, arrogant (by Swedish standards anyway).

In short, I wouldn't put it past the Alliance to give the 'Democrats' a seat at the table - informally, of course. Given some of the personality dynamics there, Åkesson and his neo-fascist 'Democrats' would soon dominate any such arrangement.

[sandensea]

5. The Riksdag seat estimate thus far (10:00 pm Stockholm time):

Social Democrat-Left-Green coalition (incumbents): 144

Moderate Party-led Alliance (center-right): 142

Swedish Democrats (far-right): 63

[roamer65]

10. The Moderate Party will sell their souls and form a coalition with the SD.

They will sell their souls to gain power, like all right pukes do.

[sandensea]

11. That's what I suspect as well.

Åkesson knows it too, as has already laid down the gauntlet: he taunted Kristersson to "choose Löfven or me!"

[muriel_volestrangler]

17. Any chance of the Center and Liberal parties rebelling at that, and giving some form of support

to the left coalition to prevent it? That'd allow them to act as "kingmakers" rather than the neo-Nazis.

[sandensea]

19. Intriguing question.

It's certainly possible.

My guess is that the Christian Democrats (which did well) would be the most likely to do so. But at 23 seats, they wouldn't be enough to push the Red-Green coalition over the top if Kristersson made a pact with the "reformed" neo-Nazis (they'd fall short 167-182).

Now, if either of the other junior Alliance parties you mentioned joined the CD in their mutiny, that would ruin any such Kristersson designs.

By the way, how's everything in the UK these days? Any chance Maydup unravels, or a no-confidence scenario?

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. Thanks - yes, I suppose it's 2 out of 3 of the right coalition needed to reject the SD

The UK is pretty mixed-up at the moment. Boris Johnson is trolling May - on Sunday, he wrote a newspaper article, calling her Chequers proposal for the EU withdrawal settlement a "suicide belt" with the detonator in Barnier's hand. This has been widely seen as the start of his attempt to topple her and get elected Conservative leader and thus PM; but it also looks so blatant that it could backfire on him (and that includes people saying he's too insulting to be PM). It's true a lot of Tories say there's no way they can support Chequers; May and supporters have fired back with "well, what are you proposing instead?" and the discontents reply "that's not up to us to say". Which would basically mean a "no deal" Brexit on WTO-only rules, and god knows how the Irish border is organised.

Meanwhile, Corbyn's clumsy handling of the antisemitism row has several Labour MPs muttering about leaving the party, and he is either unwilling or unable to organise a decent alternative to the Chequers proposal (that may be just a tactical "let the Tories tear themselves apart" move, but the antisemitism stuff means there's a significant resistance in voters and Labour MPs to following him, so it's not as if he or Labour are the automatic beneficiary of Tory disarray).

I can't see what's going to happen next, and not many people claim they can, either.

[sandensea]

22. Boris would indeed be unbecoming of a British head of government.

He has right-wing carnival barker and "British Trump" written all over him.

As far as Corbyn, it'd be nice if the Israel lobby would refrain from meddling in other countries' politics - but as we know all too well here in the U.S., that's just too much to ask.

They clearly want Corbyn out. They certainly don't want someone as influential as a British Prime Minister (if he rises to the post) to criticize their ongoing, Milosevic-style (if not Hitler-style) ethnic cleansing.

Thanks for the update, Muriel, and your insights into all things UK and more.

[LiberalLovinLug]

7. I think the immigration problem caused by ISIS and Assad must be addressed by the left more

In Europe but also in a similar vein in the US and Canada in regards more towards the Mexican and Central American influx. And the results being the creeping rise of the extreme right everywhere. Even in Sweden there is a shift. A feeling that their own cultural heritage is being made incrementally obsolete, and only the far right is addressing this concern. The left does not even want to go there.....to their own demise I say.

As tensions in the Middle East continue, this problem will only get worse. Floods of new immigrants from totally different cultures, and how to absorb, assimilate, process that many into a western, mostly Caucasian, society. The fact that Muslims especially, do not WANT to assimilate. Almost like my own ancestors, the Mennonites, they actively resisted assimilating with their new culture. Separated themselves, into willingly becoming the "other".

I think those on the left still have not learned much about accepting that many folks, who are decent polite folks, have a limit on how fast they can accept such a massive infiltration of new people, with their own religious outlook and laws, to take up residence in their country with its own glorified past, much of which reshaped in the history books by their own white colonists. But whether it is a 'whitewashed' view of their history, and thus, what they envision as their country's 'normal', it is still a bit of a shock to the system for many, especially for those who have been hyped up with fear, used as prey for right wing extremist politicians.

I don't know where to start with this conversation. But another good example of that paralysis is the related issue of female subservience and lack of equal rights within those communities, and downright abuse, the left is deathly silent, temporarily, and hypocritically putting on the shelf any women's rights standards they would jump on if anything like it happened in their own countries, fearing the PC police will crack down on them for daring to threaten their liberal edict of never criticizing any aspect of anyone's long held cultural beliefs, even archaic abusive ones.

Until the left gets honest about the very real but uncomfortable, reality that for many humans, depending on a variety of conditions like upbringing, community, etc..its not unnatural to feel uneasy, even threatened, by changes in demographics. Demographics that you have no knowledge or interaction with before. And that you have only heard the most extreme horrific stories of a small minority of them. Because simply calling them racists, and bigots, only makes them pull back further. And start by simply admitting that everyone has, to a certain extent, a fear of the 'other'.

[sandensea]

8. True. We're the best suited to address these issues, bc our approach (unlike RWs) leaves bigotry out

And that's essential. Immigration has to be dealt with as a macroeconomic and national security question - never in terms of the immigrants themselves.

That's how these pseudo-fascists have risen in so many white-majority countries: By demonizing the immigrants as people, and of course sensationalizing every incident they can.

[LiberalLovinLug]

9. True

That's why it is we who should be leading the conversation instead of shying away from it. But first, we must admit that we can, even if we self-righteously claim we ourselves have a post-racial post-modern life view, at the very least, empathize with those on the right, or who are more isolated, uniformed, that feel threatened by change. Admit that its not an evil thing to feel that way, its only human.

Another example is the Burka ban in some countries and even in my own where the Province of Quebec is taking heat for banning head coverings when on the property of any government office. It should be something that is argued as a security issue, but we hand over the ammunition to the right when we insist that any woman, must be able to wear what ever she wants (or more specifically what her husband demands of her - which is getting back to the hypocrisy of these concerns stopping at our borders, but I digress).....damn the risk!

[sandensea]

12. If I had a magic wand, I'd see to it you were the new Secretary of Homeland Security.

And don't sell yourself short: you'd be a breath of fresh air and professionalism compared to Kirstjen "Eva Braun" Nielsen.

[LiberalLovinLug]

13. ha...thanks?

Well, my Canadian citizenship might hamper that. Although Ted Cruz did quite nice for himself as a former canuck.

Thing is, we expect someone like Nielsen to lead with fear. Its a powerful weapon, easy to use, and very effective (if you have no moral ethics) The mistake is to run in the very opposite corner of sanctimonious isolation, thinking that this will somehow counterweight decades of growing rumblings and Pavlovian responses, stoked by right wing media.

No, the way to do it is to stand up and speak to that segment and admit that they are not somehow mutantly despicable creatures for having feelings of unease about their own culture, their own memories of past decades, being diminished. And further, being ridiculed and shamed for even having those feelings as being uncaring and bad people.

[sandensea]

14. You bet.

Besides: Being born elsewhere has never been an impediment to holding a cabinet post.

Although to be fair I wish some - like Kissinger - had stayed elsewhere.

[LiberalLovinLug]

15. Hmmmmmm

Cheers!

[sandensea]

16. Or as they say in Sweden:

Skål!



P/S: Löfven's Social Democrats appear to have been re-elected - by the narrowest of margins: with just 19 precincts left (out of 6,000), the Social Democrat-led alliance would govern with 144 seats to 143 for the Alliance.

How do you say skin of your teeth in Swedish!

[ck4829]

18. And let's also not forget how much the Iraq War caused this crisis

[sandensea]

20. Excellent point.

It's not right that a small country like Sweden (10 million) has to clean up Dubya's mess.

But then, the Midland Idiot is used to having everyone clean up his messes for him.