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STOCKHOLM: Sweden\u2019s national election results showed a dead heat \u200bon Sunday, with a partial count by the election authority indicating a one-seat majority for the opposition center-left bloc that could halt the Nordic nation\u2019s drift away from its liberal heritage.<\/p>\n
The bloc, headed by the Social Democrats\u2019 party leader Magdalena Andersson, was expected to win 175 seats in the 349-seat parliament, the Riksdag, based on votes from 4,853 of Sweden\u2019s 6,312 election districts, the election authority said.<\/p>\n
The right-wing governing bloc of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was seen winning 174 seats, with ballot-counting continuing.<\/p>\n
The election, while unlikely to change the course of Sweden\u2019s pro-Western and pro-Ukraine stance, will decide whether Kristersson\u2019s push toward a hard-right clampdown on migration continues.<\/p>\n
Given the closeness of the race, \u200cthe winner may \u200cnot be known for several days, after all overseas ballots have been \u200bcounted.<\/p>\n
In \u200ca \u2060pre-election pledge, \u200bKristersson \u2060broke a longstanding taboo and said he would bring into government the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party with roots in the Nazi fringe, as he aims to create a majority-right coalition.<\/p>\n
Many voters on the right say a win would amount to an endorsement of policies that have helped to curb gang violence and cut immigration dramatically.<\/p>\n
But some Swedes have expressed wariness, saying Kristersson\u2019s invitation to the far right was a step too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it will be a long night,\u201d said Maria Malmer Stenergard, minister for foreign affairs and a member of Kristersson\u2019s Moderate Party. \u201cMaybe we won\u2019t even \u2060have the results until Wednesday when the votes that have been cast abroad arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kristersson, who \u200chas trailed in opinion polls throughout his four years in office, \u200chad been catching up in the final weeks of campaigning, with Andersson \u200band her Social Democrats losing ground.<\/p>\n
Critics say the Kristersson \u200cgovernment\u2019s immigration policies, whose incentives and penalties press migrants either to conform more closely to Swedish cultural norms \u200cor leave the country, are undermining civil liberties.<\/p>\n
Electoral success for the Sweden Democrats would be welcomed by Europe\u2019s ascendant far-right parties, which were bolstered by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany\u2019s win in a German state election last week.<\/p>\n
The far right hopes for gains in upcoming elections across Europe, with the National Rally\u2019s bid for the French presidency next year potentially its biggest prize.<\/p>\n
\u2018DOESN\u2019T \u200cLOOK LIKE SWEDEN\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n While voting on Saturday in Rinkeby, near Stockholm, the Sweden Democrats\u2019 longstanding leader Jimmie Akesson said the suburb, home to one of the country\u2019s biggest \u2060Swedish-Somali populations, \u201cdoesn\u2019t look like Sweden.\u201d<\/p>\n Sweden \u2060was long one of Europe\u2019s most welcoming countries for immigrants until Kristersson came to power four years ago. His government abolished permanent residency for refugees, tightened welfare rules and stepped up expulsions of those without a right to stay.<\/p>\n The Sweden Democrats acknowledge that their party was founded in part by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the 1980s, but say they have eliminated such extremists from their ranks and have apologized for their past.<\/p>\n Cheers broke out at the Sweden Democrats\u2019 election party after an updated projection from Swedish broadcaster SVT showed a much narrower gap than an initial exit poll, which had put the center-left opposition ahead with 51 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot imagine how nervous I am right now. It feels like my life\u2019s work is hanging in the balance,\u201d said Ludvig Aspling, a member of parliament and immigration spokesperson for the Sweden Democrats. \u201cIt is going to be super tight. \u200bWe still have a chance,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n