"The Party in Sweden Is Over": Anti-Muslim Metal Keyboardist on His Way to Power?

Sweden's elections are approaching a decision, and the gap between the center-left bloc and the right-wing bloc has shrunk to just a few percentage points. At the center of the shift is Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats party with neo-Nazi roots, who seeks to bring his party into government for the first time. Åkesson, a metal band keyboardist, presents a strict platform against immigration and Islam, declaring that "the party in Sweden is over."

Sweden's elections, to be held tomorrow (Sunday), have become a much tighter race than it appeared several weeks ago. The center-left bloc, led by the Social Democrats, held a lead of about ten points in polls, but the advantage has eroded rapidly. A poll by Ipsos published two days before the elections gave the center-left bloc 49.3% compared to 49% for the right-wing bloc of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Jimmie Åkesson. At the center of the upheaval is Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats party, who seeks to bring his party into government for the first time in its history. Åkesson, 47, plays keyboards in a Viking rock band and cultivates a populist image. His party, founded in 1988 as a radical nationalist movement with neo-Nazi roots, has undergone a process of image moderation under his leadership. In 2022, it won 20.5% of the vote and became the second-largest party. Åkesson presents a strict platform against immigration and Islam, including a call to end multiculturalism, a dramatic reduction in immigration, and restrictions on traditional Muslim dress. In the current campaign, he declared that "the party in Sweden is over" and that "Sweden is no longer a no-man's land where you can come and live on benefits."