Sweden votes as Kristersson and Andersson battle over coalition numbers

Sweden votes on Sunday with Ulf Kristersson and Magdalena Andersson leading rival blocs. The outcome will determine whether the Sweden Democrats gain Cabinet power for the first time.

In Short

• Sweden's two four-party blocs need parliamentary arithmetic more than single-party wins
• Parties must cross four per cent to enter the 349-member Riksdag
• Kristersson's coalition currently relies on Sweden Democrats' outside support for majority

Sweden will vote on Sunday in an election that could either return Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to office for a second four-year term or bring the centre-left back to power under his predecessor, Magdalena Andersson. The result could also open the door for the hard-right Sweden Democrats to enter the Cabinet for the first time.

The vote is less about which single party comes first and more about which political bloc can build a majority in parliament. Sweden has two main blocs, each with four parties, and individual parties need at least 4 per cent of the vote to win seats in the 349-member Riksdag.

Kristersson has led Sweden since 2022 at the head of a three-party centre-right coalition that depends on outside support from the Sweden Democrats for a parliamentary majority. If the right is re-elected, the party can expect Cabinet posts this time. In April, Kristersson said his conservative Moderates would allow the Sweden Democrats into government if the right secures a majority, though he said he would remain prime minister even if the Sweden Democrats emerge as the stronger party.

Andersson, who was prime minister from 2021 until she lost power at the last election, is seeking a return for the centre-left Social Democrats, a party that has led Swedish governments for most of the period since World War II.

Experts have described the campaign as fragmented and incoherent, with policy issues such as the organisation of healthcare taking a back seat to questions over coalition-building. “Crime has come down, inflation has come down. So these topics are not really what people discuss,” said Zeth Isaksson, a sociologist in electoral behaviour at Stockholm University and a political scientist at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. “People discuss who is going to be in government, and that’s what the election is about.”

The Sweden Democrats, which won 20.5 per cent of the vote in 2022 to become the biggest party on the right, remain central to the election. The party was founded in the 1980s by people who had been active in right-wing extremist groups, including neo-Nazis. Under Jimmie Akesson, who has led it since 2005, it softened its rhetoric and expelled openly racist members, helping it grow from a marginal force into a major party.

The party’s possible role in government is being closely watched at a time when the populist right has made gains elsewhere in Europe, including the first-place finish by the far-right Alternative for Germany in a regional election on September 6.

More than 8 million people in Sweden, which has a population of about 10.6 million, are eligible to vote. The Swedish Election Authority has said the first preliminary results are expected around 9 pm local time, or 1900 GMT. The election will decide whether Kristersson stays in office, Andersson returns, and whether the Sweden Democrats move from outside support to ministerial power.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends