Civil Liberty - Sweden Democrats flex political muscle after recent elections

Sweden Democrats flex political muscle after recent elections

The nationalist Sweden Democrats, who hold the balance of power in the Swedish parliament after elections last month, have said the mainstream parties should negotiate with them before an important parliamentary vote is held or risk fresh elections.

All the mainstream parties have refused to talk to the Sweden Democrats, despite winning 13% of the vote in the last elections, and winning 49 seats in the new parliament, giving them the power to bring down any government that doesn't address their demands on various issues.

With the support of the Greens and the far-left (who the centre-left are happy to negotiate with, apparently) Stefan Lofven's Social Democrats have put forward a budget which will be voted upon by the new parliament. In response, the Sweden Democrats could support the opposition centre-right's alternative budget, bringing down the minority Social Democrat government and sparking the first snap elections in Sweden since 1958.

"In budget matters, we have significant influence," the Sweden Democrats' acting leader Mattias Karlsson said recently.

Mattias Karlsson is parliamentary leader of the party after Jimmie Akesson went on sick leave for a stress-related illness following the recent elections.

Sweden has a history of minority governments making deals with smaller parties in order to implement government policy, but thanks to the politically correct stubborness of the mainstream parties, the Sweden Democrats could make life very difficult for any minority government that doesn't listen to its concerns, particularly on immigration, multiculturalism and the economy.

The Sweden Democrats sit with the revamped UKIP-led grouping in the EU parliament, after the defection of a Latvian MEP, despite earlier links to the Wilders/le Pen nationalist coalition before the European elections earlier this year.

And, despite the absense of Jimmie Akesson, it still has some political firepower amongst its leading members.

You can watch a recent speech by a leading member of this increasingly popular nationalist party.