Suede. The left leads by a hair in the legislative elections, disillusionment for the far right

In Sweden, the left was closely followed by the right-wing coalition on Sunday after highly contested legislative elections, marked, according to estimates, by a decline in the far right. According to public television SVT, the left-wing parties are credited with 49.4% of the votes, or 175 seats, compared to 49.1% and 174 mandates for the alliance between the right and the far right, in power since 2022. That is to say a much narrower gap than what it was counting on at the start of the evening. But Sweden is accustomed to long election evenings with twists and turns and according to SVT, the last 20,000 votes counted could make the difference.

Social Democratic candidate Magdalena Andersson, 59, has dreamed of a return to the head of government since she was ousted from power in 2022. When the results were announced, her supporters began to hug each other all smiles, drinking their glass of champagne, or a beer.

As soon as the results were announced, his supporters began to hug each other all smiles, drinking their glass of champagne, or a beer. There is no doubt: Magnus Bjerg Sturm, interviewed by the AFP at this electoral event “is very happy”. And especially because of the score of the extreme right. It’s one of the surprises of the evening. According to these provisional estimates, the Sweden Democrats, until now the second largest political party in the country, would decline for the first time since their entry into Parliament in 2010.

The comeback of “Magda”?

Will Sweden witness the comeback of “Magda”, as she is nicknamed in this Nordic country? This is what will have to be determined over the coming weeks – and for her the hardest part is probably yet to come. Because unlike the right, the left bloc is extremely fragmented, made up of parties (from the center to the extreme left) which have difficulty getting along. “It’s going to take quite a while, they’re not going to agree right away,” predicts Anders Sannerstedt of Lund University. “The situation looks difficult,” concedes Emilia Wikström Melin, since the Social Democratic election evening. “But I have full confidence in Magdalena: she is an experienced negotiator and she has a plan to make it work,” assures the forty-year-old.

The teams of the current conservative Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, are banking on the opposite. “Even if they win, they will have difficulty forming a government,” believes Oliver Andersson, a member of the Youth of the Moderate Party. This could also encourage outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, 62, to wait before conceding defeat for his camp. In an interview, the Swedish leader pleaded for four more years to “make Sweden great again” – a nod to the famous phrase of American President Donald Trump.

“We used to be best known for our daily shootings and murders. Today, we are recognized for our dazzlingly successful entrepreneurs,” argued the conservative, defending his record of firmness on immigration and the fight against crime. Two major axes of his mandate.

ABBA has the heart on the left

For many months, its government coalition, formed in 2022 and allied with the far right in Parliament, was set to lose against the left bloc. But recent opinion polls have given him some reason to hope. One of the main arguments of the opposition against his candidacy? The entry of the extreme right into government. Ulf Kristersson has pledged to bring the Sweden Democrats into his government if he wins the legislative elections.

This question has mobilized some of Sweden’s best-known personalities. Starting with Benny Andersson, one of the members of the cult group ABBA, who revisited their hit “Mamma Mia” on Sunday to rally the candidate of the left bloc. “Mag-da-le-na!” », intoned the Swedish composer from the headquarters of the Social Democratic Party, to the applause of the crowd.