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Sweden\u2019s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has begun the final day of the general election campaign by warning about extremism and fascism.<\/p>\n
Neither his centre-left Social Democrats nor the main centre-right party is likely to win a majority.<\/p>\n
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) is expected to win around 20% of the vote, becoming the second biggest party in parliament.<\/p>\n
Mr Lofven said an SD vote was \u201cdangerous\u201d and \u201ccounterproductive\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said it was \u201clike trying to quench fire with alcohol\u201d, according to the Omni news site.<\/p>\n
Immigration has been a central issue of the election campaigns.<\/p>\n
The nationalist SD doubled its seats in the 2014 election and it is predicted to double them again on Sunday.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the SD said its leader, Jimmie Akesson, had received a letter threatening to behead him if he did not pull out of the election.<\/p>\n
It said the letter bore the flag of the Islamic State militant group.<\/p>\n
Sweden\u2019s security and intelligence service is investigating, news agency AFP reported.<\/p>\n
Who are the Sweden Democrats?<\/strong><\/p>\n The SD was linked for years to neo-Nazis and other far-right groups, only entering parliament in 2010.<\/p>\n It has been working to rebrand itself, changing its logo from a flaming torch (similar to the one used by the UK far-right National Front) to a blue-and-yellow daisy, the colours of the Swedish flag.<\/p>\n Traditionally appealing to working-class men, it wants to attract more women and more educated and higher-income voters.<\/p>\n Mr Akesson, who became leader in 2005, says there is zero tolerance towards racism in the party and several members have been expelled.<\/p>\n However, the party has still been embroiled in various racism scandals.<\/p>\n One municipal candidate shared a song on Facebook with the lyrics \u201cSwedes are white and the country is ours\u201d, according to a report in tabloid Aftonbladet.<\/p>\n Last year, some of its ex-members went on to found the far-right Alternative for Sweden (AfS).<\/p>\n What are the key issues?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sweden\u2019s economy is booming but many voters are concerned that housing, healthcare and welfare services have come under pressure from a wave of immigration during the 2015 migrant crisis.<\/p>\n That year Sweden took in a record 163,000 asylum seekers \u2013 the highest such intake in the EU, per head of population.<\/p>\n Sweden\u2019s traditional parties have since hardened their tone to reflect concerns about integration.<\/p>\n Many voters are also concerned about violence. The SD links a rise in shootings to increased immigration, although official figures show no correlation.<\/p>\n The SD also wants to leave the European Union and has proposed a \u201cSwexit\u201d referendum. However, the powerful centrist parties all oppose such a vote, so it is unlikely to go ahead.<\/p>\n Aside from immigration, climate change is an issue many Swedes care about \u2013 particularly after a long, hot summer and severe forest fires.<\/p>\n During the heatwave, around 25,000 hectares of forest burned in wildfires and many farmers were forced to destroy livestock after their pasture land dried up.<\/p>\n Support for the Green party, which had been struggling after various internal scandals, has crept up across the country.<\/p>\n The Left party is making gains too, from the environmentally concerned and from centre-left voters dissatisfied with the mainstream parties\u2019 approach to migration.<\/p>\n Who is likely to be in charge?<\/strong><\/p>\n Prime Minister Lofven currently heads a minority, centre-left coalition government made up of his Social Democrats and the Green Party.<\/p>\n In recent years there has been a fall in support for the Social Democrats and the largest traditional opposition party, the centre-right Moderates.<\/p>\n However, the Social Democrats are likely to be the ones forming the next government.<\/p>\n Both parties have said they will not enter a coalition with the SD, however well they perform.<\/p>\n \u2013<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sweden\u2019s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven has begun the final day of the general election campaign by warning about extremism and fascism. Neither his centre-left Social Democrats nor the main centre-right party is likely to win a majority. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) is expected to win around 20% of the vote, becoming the second biggest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11363,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Jimmie](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/624\/cpsprodpb\/FFA4\/production\/_103344456_490aeaa5-c61d-4fef-9808-f0f78ad9a9d7.jpg\")
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