It was a major political shift in the Nordic country that has had a decades-long history of welcoming refugees but is struggling with a crime wave linked to immigration. Magdalena Andersson, the center-left prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party, conceded defeat with 99.9 percent of the vote from the weekend election counted on Wednesday. He said he would resign on Thursday. Jimmy Akesson, leader of the populist Sweden Democrats, declared victory for the four-party bloc. He said his party would be “a constructive and driving force” in the task of rebuilding security in the country, adding that it was “time to put Sweden first”. With almost all votes counted, the bloc that includes the Sweden Democrats – the country’s second largest party – won a slim majority in parliament. While a few votes were great, they weren’t enough to affect the final result. Anderson said “the preliminary result is clear enough to draw a conclusion” that her centre-left forces had lost power.
The Social Democrats held power for 8 years
Andersson became Sweden’s first female prime minister last year and led the country in its historic bid to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While Andersson is personally popular, anxiety in Sweden has grown over high crime rates in segregated areas that host large numbers of immigrants who have failed to integrate into Swedish society. Some blamed her Social Democrats, who have been in power for eight years. Magdalena Andersson, the centre-left prime minister and leader of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party, speaks at a press conference in Stockholm on Wednesday after the country’s parliamentary elections. He conceded defeat and said he would resign on Thursday. (Jessica Gow/TT News Agency/The Associated Press) Ulf Kristersson, the leader of Sweden’s third-largest party, the Moderates, who is seen as the leading figure of the right-wing bloc and a possible prime minister, thanked voters for their trust. “Now we will put Sweden in order,” he wrote on Facebook. “The Moderates and the other parties on my side have been given the mandate for the change we asked for. I now begin the work of forming a new, effective government,” Christerson said. The Sweden Democrats have long been shunned by Swedes because the party’s founders included some neo-Nazis. In recent years he has moved into the mainstream by ousting extremists and won support with a tough stance on crime and immigration amid a rise in shootings and other gangs.
“A slim majority”
Its transformation was carried out by 43-year-old Akesson, who in his speech on Wednesday night said it was time for a new chapter in Sweden. “Now it will be enough with the failed social democratic policy that for eight years has continued to lead the country in the wrong direction,” Akesson said. “It is time to start rebuilding security, prosperity and cohesion. It is time to put Sweden first. The Sweden Democrats will be a constructive and driving force in this work.” “Now the work begins to make Sweden good again.” Jimmy Akesson, leader of the populist Sweden Democrats, says his party will be “a constructive and driving force” in the task of rebuilding security in Sweden. (Stefan Jerewang/TT News Agency/The Associated Press) The tally gave the right-wing bloc 176 seats in the 349-member parliament, the Riksdag and Andersen’s centre-left bloc 173 seats. A majority in Sweden requires 175 seats. “The four right-wing parties seem to have received just under 50 percent of the vote in the election and in the Riksdag they have won one or two mandates. A slim majority, but it is a majority,” Anderson said. “Therefore, tomorrow I will request my dismissal as prime minister and responsibility for the continuation of the process will now pass to the Speaker of the parliament and the Riksdag.”
