Sweden election: far right makes gains, but falls short of true power as PM invites moderate opposition to talks

Swedish voters angry about crime and migration on Sunday delivered a blow to two centrist parties that have traded power for decades, but an insurgent far-right party still fell short of capturing a commanding position inside the parliament.

The election had been watched closely for signs about the extent to which a cascade of anti-immigrant fear could hit even Sweden, which has long been one of Europe’s most open nations toward refugees.

The far-right Sweden Democrats had at times during the campaign appeared to have a shot at becoming the biggest party in the country, but in the end they placed third, capturing 17.6 per cent of initial tallies of the vote. Still, they succeeded in defining the election’s agenda and expanded their power in parliament.

The ruling centre-left Social Democrats and Greens and their Left Party parliamentary allies had 40.6 per cent of the vote, while the opposition centre-right Alliance bloc was at 40.3 per cent.

The preliminary count of 99.7 per cent of electoral districts gave Social Democrat Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s coalition parties 144 seats in the 349-member parliament, and the Alliance 143 seats. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats were poised to get about 62 seats, not quite as many as some pre-election polls indicated but significantly better than in 2014.