Sweden votes in election thriller, far right eyes govt role

Sweden began voting Sunday in a general election after a tight race that will see either the far-right enter government for the first time or the left-wing opposition reclaim power.

Opposition leader Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats was among the first to cast her ballot after polling stations opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT).

Clad in a pale blue suit, the 59-year-old who in 2021-2022 became the first woman to serve as Sweden's prime minister voted with her husband at a school in her home municipality of Nacka, south of Stockholm.

Opinion polls have long credited the four parties in her left-wing bloc with a comfortable lead over conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's four-party alliance, which includes the far-right Sweden Democrats.

But the gap narrowed to a dead heat in the final days of the campaign.

"It is now up to the Swedish people to decide which direction our country should take. Should we have a government entirely dominated by the Sweden Democrats? Something that has never happened in Sweden before? Or should we have a government led by me, which will steer Sweden in a new spirit of cooperation?" Andersson told reporters after voting.

Her party, which governed the Scandinavian country for the better part of the 20th century and remains Sweden's largest, has pledged to bolster the welfare state and help struggling households cope with rising costs.

Outgoing Prime Minister Kristersson has meanwhile vowed to focus on improving Swedes' everyday lives now that his government's clampdown on organised crime and immigration has begun to show results.

Deadly shootings and bombings by organised crime networks have decreased significantly in recent years, and asylum applications are at a record low.

"We want to use our new and far better preconditions to improve the lives of ordinary people... to make Sweden great again," Kristersson told AFP before the vote, borrowing Donald Trump's famous catchphrase.

His three-party minority coalition cut a deal in 2022 with the Sweden Democrats giving them influence over government policy, in particular on immigration and crime, in exchange for their support in parliament.

Over the past two decades, far-right leader Jimmie Akesson has steered the party with neo-Nazi roots into the mainstream.

It is now hoping to enter government. Kristersson has promised the far right key cabinet posts if the right-wing wins the election.

"I think it's a very important election this year, and hopefully a lot of people will realise that we have to change course... so that everyone will feel included in society," store manager Linda Eriksson, 48, told AFP as she voted at a polling station.

Ingrid Rudien, a 64-year-old assistant secretary, said she hoped the country "can unite together as a nation even though we may have a close result".

Akesson was confident of victory at a final election rally on Saturday in the Swedish capital.

"We've already won!" the 47-year-old said to thunderous applause in Stockholm's Kungstradgarden Park.

"Sweden is becoming safer, better, and more Swedish," he said, surrounded by blue and yellow campaign posters blaring "Make Sweden Sweden Again".

Agneta Andersson, a 78-year-old pensioner attending the rally, told AFP she was voting for the far right.

"Like Jimmie, I want it to be like it was when I was young, in the old Sweden. I can't cope with all this violence in society."

Voting stations close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) when exit polls were to be published, with the first reliable results expected several hours later.

Some eight million people are eligible to vote in the election, in a country of 10.6 million where voter turnout regularly tops 80 percent.

Around half of voters have cast their ballots in advance.

If the right wing were to win the election, the formation of a new government would be fairly straightforward.

But as the four left-wing parties are splintered ideologically, tough negotiations would be needed to form a government even if they hold a majority.