Swedish parliamentary election: Social Democrats strongest force, government formation open

Dusseldorf. According to the forecast, the Social Democrats of former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have become the strongest force in the parliamentary elections in Sweden. According to the Swedish broadcaster SVT, the party received 28.4 percent of the vote - but it remains to be seen whether that will be enough to form a government.

It remains to be seen which political camp will ultimately be able to claim a majority of the 349 seats in the Swedish Riksdag. According to the forecast, the opposition challengers have a better starting position. The parties that support Andersson as Prime Minister - in addition to the Social Democrats, the Left, the Greens and the liberal Center Party - were at 51.3 percent. Kristersson's previous coalition of three parties and the right-wing populists together achieved 46.8 percent.

Around eight million Swedes were asked to vote. Long before the election, the opposition was well ahead in polls. Shortly before the deadline, however, a closer race for power emerged than expected. The election campaign focused, among other things, on the country's challenges in dealing with migration, gang crime and a tightening of criminal law. But also the question of whether the right-wing populists in Sweden could become part of a government for the first time.

"They (the Sweden Democrats, editor) have developed a Swedish path of populism. It is not loud or screaming, but seems more moderate, but remains provocative," election researcher Torbjörn Sjöström from the Swedish polling institute Novus explained to ARD before the election.

Kristersson's coalition of his Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals has already governed with the support of right-wing populists in recent years since the 2022 election. The leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Åkesson, said before the election: "We had the chance to take responsibility. We took advantage of this chance."