Irish Examiner view: Stifling debate benefits the extremists

The rise of a far-right party in Sweden has been linked to the narrow 'opinion corridor' deemed acceptable in that democracy

Jimmie Åkesson's Sweden Democrats achieved a breakthrough this week, entering the new coalition, driven in part by its pledge to curb immigration. Picture: Per Pettersson/Flickr

As indicated earlier this week on this website, a change of government beckons in Sweden, with a coalition of right-wing parties to form the country’s next administration. 

Prime minister Magdalena Andersson stepped down at a press conference on Wednesday when she pointed out that her Social Democrats were still the country’s largest party and that the incoming coalition had a very slim majority.

But the main topic of conversation is the arrival of the far-right Sweden Democrats as one of those coalition partners. The Sweden Democrats are linked to neo-Nazi groups which emerged in the country 30 years ago, and one of the main planks of their successful election campaign was a promise to curb immigration.

This is a central issue in Swedish politics — since 2015, the country has taken in more than 160,000 asylum seekers, the highest number per capita of any country in the EU, and the Sweden Democrats have won votes by linking those asylum seekers to gangs and gun crime in Sweden.

The rise of the far right may surprise those with a view of Sweden as the quintessentially liberal Scandinavian democracy, with generous social welfare supports and imaginative measures to combat climate change.

But close observers of the political scene have pointed to an inherent weakness in Swedish public discourse: The ‘opinion corridor’, the narrow range of opinions and topics acceptable for debate in Swedish media and politics.

Those observers suggest that staying within the opinion corridor means more challenging debates on controversial topics are avoided, leaving the field open to the likes of Sweden Democrats to dictate the agenda on those topics — and succeeding at election time as a result. Something to ponder ahead of the next general election here.

Something to ponder ahead of the next general election here in Ireland.