STOCKHOLM — Sweden’s high-stakes general election is too close to call, according to an analysis of early results that suggests a late surge in support for the right. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing alliance had been adrift in the polls for most of the past year, only narrowing the gap with the leftwing opposition in the final two weeks of a sometimes bitter and bad-tempered campaign. If he manages to defy the polls and hold onto power, Kristersson has promised to give ministerial posts to politicians from the Sweden Democrats, a populist-nationalist anti-migrant party, in a first for a country that for decades shunned the far right.
Two exit polls published when voting ended at 8 p.m. local time on Sunday gave the leftwing bloc a clear lead, putting ex-PM Magdalena Andersson on track to return to office. But public broadcaster SVT’s later analysis of results declared so far suggested the race was far closer, projecting that Kristersson’s right-wing alliance will win 174 seats in the 349-seat parliament, one fewer than the left bloc’s 175 seats. Swedish broadcaster TV4 produced a separate forecast confirming that the results so far point to a nearly even split: 176 seats for Andersson’s left bloc and 173 for Kristersson’s alliance on the right.
For Andersson, such a close result would be a bitter disappointment. After being ejected from power four years ago, she had been seen as a virtual lock to regain office. But her side’s double-digit poll lead evaporated in the final days of the race.
Even Andersson accepts that a victory for her leftwing bloc would not consign the Sweden Democrats to history, especially if the final result is a narrow one. Well, we’ll see if the Swedish people are very tempted on that,” she said. For his part, conservative Moderate party leader Kristersson would almost certainly stay on and fight for his job as PM if the SVT forecast proves accurate.
Kristersson insists that the Sweden Democrats can be trusted, having propped up his coalition from the country’s parliament for the past four years, helping drive through hardline policies on immigration and violent crime. He told POLITICO on Friday that potential ministers from the Sweden Democrats would have limited room to go rogue — because he would remain in charge.
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