It takes a few days to say that Sweden has entered a new political era. According to partial results of the legislative elections on Sunday, September 11, almost 95% of the polling stations were covered by the far-right-backed conservative party Moderates, an unprecedented right-wing bloc led by Ulf Kristerson. The Sweden Democrats (SD) will win an absolute majority of 175 to 176 seats, while Social Democrat Prime Minister Magdalena Andersen’s Left Front will win 173 to 174 seats.

The Scandinavian country’s electoral authority warned that a final verdict on the ballot would have to wait until Wednesday, November 14, because the scores were tight. If they confirm, the Left will leave power after eight years.

In Sweden, the position of prime minister traditionally goes to the first party in the winning coalition. A total of 349 seats are allocated proportionally to parties securing at least 4%. To be invested, a Prime Minister must have 175 votes or more against him, but not an absolute majority in his favor.

A difference of sixty thousand votes

While exit polls and early primary results suggested a narrow victory for the left late in the evening, the right edged ahead as the vote count progressed and now appears to be on course for victory.

Based on the votes counted until midnight, the right-wing bloc (SD, moderates, Christian Democrats and liberals) will win 49.8% of the votes. The Left Bloc (Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens, Center Party) would bring together 48.8%. That is only about 60,000 votes per electorate of 7.8 million people.

Long pariah, the big winner of the evening, is the SD party, which claims to be nationalist and anti-establishment. The far-right party led by Jimmy Akesson will become the second party in the country and the first party of the new right-wing group with a provisional score of 20.7%. The conservatives of the moderates will trail slightly with 19.0% of the vote.

“It smells good”The 43-year-old SD party leader was launched into his melting troop at his campaign headquarters, which was celebrated with slogans. “Jimmy, Lalalala”.

Votes by Swedes abroad and some pre-registered votes have not yet been counted, but political scientists say the results are unlikely to be reversed.

“We won’t have a final result tonight.”Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said her party exceeded 30% without a perfect score. “Swedish democracy must take its course, every vote must be counted and we will wait for the result”, the 55-year-old outgoing leader said on Sunday evening. They hope that the Left can stay in power for four consecutive years, depending on the “red-green” bloc.

Major turning point

These elections mark an important turning point: until these legislative elections the traditional Swedish right to govern with the direct or indirect support of the SD was not considered.

“It says a lot about how far we’ve come and that everyone was laughing (…) that today we’re the second party in Sweden., Mr. Akesson launched in front of his overheated supporters. SD entered the chamber for the first time in 2010 with 5.7% of the vote. Progress has since continued and now exceeds 40% in some municipalities, particularly in the south of the country.

The campaign was dominated by issues favored by the right-wing opposition: criminality and lethal gang lynching, soaring fuel and electricity prices, integration issues…

A victory for the far-right-backed far-right would be a fundamental political change for Sweden, which will take over the EU’s rotating presidency on 1.^is Finalize NATO’s historic candidacy in January.

“Now for the first time we have a real chance, not just to be an opposition party, but a real possibility to be part of a new government that takes politics in a completely different direction.”The party’s No. 2, Richard Jomshof, responded on SVT’s microphone.

While Sweden’s Democrats hope for cabinet positions, other right-wing parties are reluctant to give them government posts, preferring to rely solely on them in parliament. On the left, too, the exact shape of an executive emerging from the election is marked by uncertainty between left-of-center parties.