Translated material
Change of power in Sweden
The bloc received 178 seats in the Swedish parliament - the Riksdag, and the center-left bloc, which united the Environmental Protection Party and the Left Party under the auspices of the ruling Social Democratic Workers' Party of Sweden (SDLP), 171 seats. In the individual standings, the Social Democrats were ahead of the Conservatives by 10% of the votes, remaining the largest party in the country. But the 35.3% of the vote received was the party's worst result in 74 years.
The official results will be announced on Wednesday, but they are unlikely to change the picture. The SDLP admitted defeat, and its leader, Prime Minister Göran Persson, resigned, promising at an emergency party congress in March to cede the presidency to young people who would “challenge the bourgeois parties and return the Social Democrats to power.” For Sweden, these are serious changes, because in 90 years the SDLP remained out of power for only about 10 years, and in the last decade the country has been ruled continuously by the leader of the Social Democrats, Göran Persson.
It is possible that the Social Democrats were greatly damaged by the sharp rise in real estate prices. The victory of the right was also ensured by a united front against the ruling coalition and a common socially oriented election platform. Conservatives intend to increase employment, reduce taxation of the middle class and the poor (taxes take up to 50% of workers' salaries), and also reduce benefits for the unemployed, most of whom prefer the currently generous benefits to wages. The victorious right, however, promises to preserve the unique Swedish model of society with its social protection for citizens.