Sweden Democrats Lose Big, Blame Muslim Voters as Party Leader Refuses to Quit
Jimmie Åkesson says he will not resign after his far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) party suffered its first voter decline in 16 years, falling from Sweden's second-largest party to third. Meanwhile, Moderate Party official Fredrik Kärrholm and Åkesson himself claim immigrant and Muslim votes tipped the election to the left — a claim five researchers call a double standard.
STOCKHOLM — Sweden's far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) lost voter support for the first time in 16 years, dropping from the country's second-largest party to third in the recent election [242799]. Party leader Jimmie Åkesson responded by refusing to step down and blaming the loss on mobilized Muslim voters [244938].
Åkesson said he will not resign despite the poor result. His main explanation is that SD lost voters to its cooperation partners and lost its signature issue: migration. He repeated his claim that the Left Party (V) and the Social Democrats (S) "mobilized Islamist votes" [244938].
Fredrik Kärrholm, a leading member of the Moderate Party (M), also suggested immigrant votes may have been decisive when the right-wing Tidö parties lost [243636]. The Tidö parties are the four-party right-wing bloc named after the Tidö Agreement.
But five researchers at the Stockholm School of Economics pointed to a double standard in this debate. When people with foreign backgrounds do not vote, it is called a sign of failed integration. But when they do not vote the way some want, they are suddenly described as a threat [244903].
The election result showed a clear trend: enough Swedes chose to push back against far-right influence [242799]. The Sweden Democrats had influenced government policy for four years without holding formal power, pushing strict anti-immigration measures that critics call poisonous [242799].
In Sweden's vulnerable neighborhoods, people who had never voted before turned to the Left Party. At an Örebro mosque, the message was simple: "Go vote." Left Party members like Nadja Awad knocked on thousands of doors, promising to freeze rents. One resident said, "Jimmie Åkesson woke the bear that was sleeping" [244887].
One voter, Ali Alabdallah, responded directly to politicians who blame immigrants for their defeat: "I work. I pay taxes. I take part in Swedish society. So when politicians who lost the election blame me for their defeat, I notice. They question whether I belong in Sweden's democracy" [243605].
Claims that Muslim voters decided the election risk undermining trust in the voting system. Democracy depends on every vote counting equally, and low voter turnout remains a bigger problem for democracy than high turnout [243606].
Åkesson also said SD will not drop its demand for ministerial posts in any new government [244938].