Anti-immigration party wins in Sweden

Swedish Anti-Immigration Party Claims Seats

Unlike nearby Denmark and Norway, where populist anti-immigration parties have been successful for years, voters here had never before given the Sweden Democrats sufficient support to overcome the 4 percent threshold they needed to reach Parliament. Television projections put them at 5.6 percent late Sunday.

With 97 percent of Sweden’s 5,668 districts counted, the government coalition won 49.3 percent, compared with 43.5 percent support for the opposition bloc.

With its high taxes and a generous welfare system, Sweden has been regarded by many outsiders as a bastion of liberalism and tolerance — immune from far-right politics.

However the integration of minorities within this nation of 9.4 million people has become a growing preoccupation, especially in cities that have experienced high rates of immigration.

Though the official campaign was dominated by discussion of welfare reform and taxation, immigration lurked beneath the surface.

Notice the NYTimes is unable to even articulate what is going on—it's just a sanitized report—but for socionomics that works fine. And depending on how large this shift in social mood becomes, the trends underway may gain strength in the coming years:

In Sweden, mainstream politics is changing. For most of the last century, political life was dominated by the Social Democrats, one of the most successful vote-winning parties in Europe. Ejected from power in 2006 by Mr. Reinfeldt, their decline has deepened. Swedish television projections showed they were on course for their worst election result since World War I.

Like the Democrats and Republican establishment in the United States, the rest of the political establishment in Sweden has chosen to ignore the socionomic trend and go down with the ship:

Swedish government seeks way to exclude far-right

Left Party leader Lars Ohly blamed the demise of Europe's traditional welfare model and extreme disparities of wealth across the continent for voters' frustration.

"We have seen it in our Nordic neighbors, we have seen it in Holland, Belgium," he said. "I think a lot of people are looking for a simple solution -- to blame someone, immigrants and immigration."

But despite four years of trimming back benefits, Sweden's welfare state remains one of the most comprehensive in the world. Furthermore, the country's economy is growing fast, public finances are robust and unemployment, though high after the recent global economic crisis, is coming down.

Jimmie Akesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats, said his party was not targeting immigrants but Sweden's failed immigration policies. He said he was ready to negotiate with and cooperate with all the other parties.

"We are not going to cause problems. We will be responsible. That's my promise to the Swedish people," said Akesson.

Both major blocs have said they would not work with the Sweden Democrats.

If the trend in social mood is confirmed and the excessive immigration at peak social mood remains an area of targeted reform, the Sweden Democrats have a very bright future.