Sweden Democrats vow not to cause problems
Sweden Democratic leader Jimmie Åkesson promised to not cause problems as near final results showed it could be a kingmaker in a hung parliament.
"We won't cause problems," Åkesson told a crowd of exhalted supporters who chanted his nameas near final results handed him a score of 5.7 percent. "We will take responsibility. That is my promise to the Swedish people. I am overwhelmed and it is hard to collect my thoughts. Today, we have written political history."
At 31, Åkesson has led the party since 2005. He recalled a tough election, saying his party had been excluded from the public debate.
"We were exposed to censorship, we were exposed to a medieval boycott, they...excluded us. We were denied advertising in many newspapers, we were in
every possible way treated as something other than a political party," he
scolded, sending a wave of booing through the crowd.
Åkesson stressed the party, with its new position in parliament, had four year to affect Swedish politics.
Sweden's centre-right government came first in Sunday's election, near final results showed, but fell short of a majority, with the balance of power handed to Åkesson's Sweden Democrats.
According to a tally of 98 percent of electoral districts, 173 seats in the 349-seat parliament would go to Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's governing alliance, 156 would go to the left-wing opposition and 20 seats would go to the Sweden Democrats.
Both the centre-right alliance and the leftwing opposition have said they would not collaborate with the far-right in parliament.
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"We won't cause problems," Åkesson told a crowd of exhalted supporters who chanted his nameas near final results handed him a score of 5.7 percent. "We will take responsibility. That is my promise to the Swedish people. I am overwhelmed and it is hard to collect my thoughts. Today, we have written political history."
At 31, Åkesson has led the party since 2005. He recalled a tough election, saying his party had been excluded from the public debate.
"We were exposed to censorship, we were exposed to a medieval boycott, they...excluded us. We were denied advertising in many newspapers, we were in
every possible way treated as something other than a political party," he
scolded, sending a wave of booing through the crowd.
Åkesson stressed the party, with its new position in parliament, had four year to affect Swedish politics.
Sweden's centre-right government came first in Sunday's election, near final results showed, but fell short of a majority, with the balance of power handed to Åkesson's Sweden Democrats.
According to a tally of 98 percent of electoral districts, 173 seats in the 349-seat parliament would go to Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's governing alliance, 156 would go to the left-wing opposition and 20 seats would go to the Sweden Democrats.
Both the centre-right alliance and the leftwing opposition have said they would not collaborate with the far-right in parliament.
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