Sweden’s centre-left opposition looked most likely to take power on Monday after a tight election that reduced the far-right’s influence but is unlikely to spell a return to open immigration policies.
Bucking a Europe-wide trend of shifts to the right, preliminary results from Sweden’s election projected a narrow three-seat lead for the centre-left opposition over the right-wing ruling bloc of Prime Minister (PM) Ulf Kristersson.
That was driven mainly by losses for the far-right Sweden Democrats party, which had helped steer the once-liberal nation towards some of Europe’s strictest migration rules.
While a centre-left government may take a softer line, it is unlikely to return to the generous, open-door policies of past decades, analysts say, because of voters’ unease over the levels of immigration and crime.
“I believe the broader shift towards a stricter Swedish migration policy is, for the most part, here to stay,” said Niklas Bohlin, a political scientist at Mid Sweden University.
Left-leaning parties backing Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson were projected to win 176 seats in the 349-seat Parliament, while Kristersson’s bloc was projected to win 173 seats, the election authority said.
“If this result remains valid, Sweden will get a new government,” Andersson told supporters on Sunday night.
