Far-right party makes big gains in Sweden

Swedish Prime Minister and party leader of the Social Democrat party Stefan Lofven. Photo / AP

Sweden appears to be heading towards a hung Parliament after a nationalist party with neo-Nazi roots made major gains in elections, robbing the mainstream centrist parties of a majority, in the latest vote to test a European nation's tolerance to immigration.

Far-right parties have made big gains throughout Europe in recent years as anxieties grow over national identity and the effects of globalisation and immigration following armed conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.

Sweden - home to the Nobel prizes and militarily neutral for the better part of two centuries - has been known for its comparatively open doors to migrants and refugees.

The general election was the first since the country of 10 million took in 163,000 refugees in 2015 - the most in Europe in relation to the country's population of 10 million - as mass migration to Europe rose dramatically. The influx of asylum-seekers has polarised voters and fractured the long-standing political consensus.

With almost all districts having reported, the ruling centre-left Social Democrats and Greens and their Left Party parliamentary allies had 40.6 per cent of the vote, while the opposition centre-right Alliance was at 40.3 per cent. That gave the centre-left 144 seats in the 349-seat parliament against 142 for the Alliance, suggesting weeks of uncertainty before a workable government can be formed.

The Sweden Democrats, a party with roots in the white supremacist fringe, won 17.6 per cent and 63 seats, up from 12.9 per cent and 49 seats in the last election four years ago, the biggest gain by any party in Sweden's Parliament, the Riksdag.

Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, who brought the Social Democrats to power in 2014, said he intended to remain in the job.

However, Alliance leader Ulf Kristersson called on him to resign and claimed the right to form Sweden's next government.

Sounding sombre and firm, Lofven told his supporters the election presented "a situation that all responsible parties must deal with", adding that "a party with roots in Nazism" would "never ever offer anything responsible, but hatred".

"We have a moral responsibility. We must gather all good forces. We won't mourn, we will organise ourselves," he said.

Sweden democrats leader Jimmie Akesson's had been hoping for at least 20 per cent of the vote but told a party rally yesterday that the results was still a win.

"We will gain huge influence over what happens in Sweden during the coming weeks, months and years," Akesson told party colleagues.

He hopes his party, which wants Sweden to leave the European Union and freeze immigration, can play a decisive role in negotiations over forming a government.

Like other far-right parties in Europe, the Sweden Democrats worked to soften its neo-Nazi image in the lead-up to the election. The party symbol was switched from a flame thrower to a flower. Members known for making pro-Third Reich statements were pushed out.

It made its first mark in politics with municipal council seats in 2006, and since then slowly helped revise long-accepted social norms for what Swedes could say openly about foreigners and integration without being considered racist.

- AP