THE TELEGRAPH: With his clean-cut looks, geeky spectacles, and sensible haircut, 31-year-old Jimmie Åkesson looks more like an accountant than a political extremist.Yet in the past few weeks Mr Åkesson, leader of the far-Right Sweden Democrat party, has blamed immigrants for rape - especially Africans and Arabs.
His party has played crude television advertisements accusing burqa-clad Muslim women of taking benefits from white Swedish pensioners. And last year he called Islam the biggest threat to Sweden since the Second World War.
To the horror of his compatriots in one of Europe's most liberal and tolerant nations, blaming foreigners has worked electoral magic.
When Swedes vote on Sunday Mr Åkesson's anti-immigrant party will almost certainly win its first seats at a general election - and has even been predicted to come third with 7.5 per cent of the vote, according to one poll.
That would be enough to give them 28 seats out of a total of 349 in the Riksdag, Stockholm's parliament, ahead of five more established parties, and hold the balance of power.It is the sort of far Right success that has been seen several times across Europe this year, and a prospect has struck fear in the hearts of Sweden's usually moderate voters who never thought they would see extremists get anywhere near power.
Mainstream politicians, deeply troubled by the party's success, have been forced to promise that they wouldn't under any circumstances go into coalition with the Sweden Democrats.
Swedes are bracing themselves for a difficult time of minority government, when their economic problems demand decisive leadership.
Fredrik Reinfeldt, the prime minister and leader of a centre-Right party, has been so rattled that, after ignoring the Sweden Democrats throughout the campaign, last week he came out and warned that a vote for them meant a "gamble with stability".
But Mr Åkesson has won support by saying what for decades most Swedes have considered unthinkable.
"Swedish pensioners can't afford to fix their broken teeth or pay for the medicine that would bring them back to health," he said, blaming the generous welfare system for lavishing money on immigrants.
"Today's multicultural Swedish power elite is completely blind to the dangers of Islam and Islamification," was another of his claims. He has called for massive restrictions to be placed on immigration.
It is a message which has resonated with surprisingly large numbers of voters. >>> Paul O´ Mahony in Stockholm and Nick Meo | Saturday, September 18, 2010
THE GUARDIAN: Swedish elections: The impact of immigration – For many, Sweden represents a modern, liberal, progressive ideal. But after tomorrow's election, a far-right party could hold the balance of power >>> Andrew Brown | Saturday, September 18, 2010
