Sweden at the vote: center-left leads by one seat, record turnout blocks the advance of the far-right

According to the first exit polls released by public television SVT, the centre-left coalition led by former prime minister Magdalena Andersson was ahead of its centre-right opponents led by outgoing prime minister Ulf Kristersson.

According to initial projections, however, the result is in the balance. In fact, a projection by the public broadcaster SVT indicates that there would be only one seat difference between the centre-left opposition and the centre-right coalition: the progressives would obtain 175 seats, against the 174 of the parties that support the current government.

In detail, the Social Democrats would be the first party with 27.6%, followed with 20% by Prime Minister Kristersson's Moderates and with 17.5% by the radical right of the Sweden Democrats. The Left would get 8.2%, while the Center would get 7.1% and the Christian Democrats 6.3%. A step backwards for the Greens, who would have 6.2%, while the Liberals with 5.5% would remain firmly above the threshold of 4%.

Sweden to vote - ©Ansa

If the predictions of the first data are confirmed, it will be up to Magdalena Andersson to form the new government by starting consultations. A task that in any case promises to be anything but easy for the former prime minister born in Uppsala. The centre-left coalition, made up of Social Democrats, Greens, Center and Left, is only slightly ahead.

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In the hours preceding the vote, several local VIPs also moved against the possible entry into the government of the ultra-right. From Greta Thunberg to the singer Zara Larsson, up to the composer of Abba, Benny Andersson, there have been calls to vote for the return of the centre-left - and environmental policies - to government. If the results are confirmed, it would be the first time since they entered parliament in 2010 that the Sweden Democrats have retreated. Kristersson, however, would see his choice to open the doors of the executive to the ultra-right defeated.

The Sweden Democrats had crossed the country presenting their anti-migrant slogans, but at the same time trying not to alienate the votes of the moderate electorate. Many in Europe expected that the black wave that started with the AfD's triumph in Saxony-Anhalt would also stop in Stockholm. In the end, however, the black wave seems to have stopped in Sweden. What was perhaps decisive was the very high turnout, the flexibility of being able to vote in any Swedish municipality or embassy in the world up to 19 days before the vote.

The approximately 7 million voters were called to renew the 349 members of the Riksdag, the country's single-chamber parliament on whose majority the formation of the government depends. The vote is held every 4 years, and always falls on the second Sunday of September: this year the meeting has therefore been called for today, 13 September. The polls opened at 8am and people could vote until 8pm.

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