Dilemma of Sweden's Prime Minister Candidate Kristersson, Leader of the Moderate Party

Local daily: "May remain the far-right locksmith brought to the forefront of Sweden Democrats politics"

Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party, mentioned as the next Prime Minister of Sweden
[Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The Swedish daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter (DN) on the 11th (local time), ahead of the general election, described, "History may record Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party, as the far-right's locksmith who opened the door for the Sweden Democrats to emerge at the forefront of politics."

With the victory of the right-wing coalition confirmed in the Swedish general election, Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party, has secured an opportunity to become prime minister. He has been deeply involved in politics since his teenage years. However, since the seat difference between the right-wing coalition and the left-wing coalition is only three seats, and the Moderate Party has ceded the leadership position of the right-wing coalition to the Sweden Democrats, he now faces the challenge of whether he can effectively exercise power even if he becomes prime minister.

Kristersson was born in 1963 in Lund, a city in southern Sweden. He has a background as a gymnast in his childhood, and according to local media, he entered politics as a teenager. Kristersson majored in economics at Uppsala University and served as chairman of the Moderate Youth League from 1988 to 1992. He first entered the parliament in 1991 and was active on the Social Security Committee. In 2000, he temporarily left politics, believing that the then Moderate Party leader did not want to work with him. During his time away from politics, he worked at an internet consulting company called Adcore and served as chairman of the Swedish Adoption Center. He married in 1991 and is the father of three daughters adopted from China.

Kristersson returned to politics in 2002, became deputy mayor of Stockholm in 2006, and served as Minister for Social Security from October 2010 to October 2014. In the 2014 general election, he was slated to become finance minister if the Moderate Party came to power, but the party ceded power to the Social Democrats. Kristersson became leader of the Moderate Party in October 2017. In the 2018 general election, his first as party leader, the party lost 14 seats compared to the 2014 election and was defeated. In this recent election, his second as leader, the party lost two more seats but gained an opportunity to change the government thanks to the Sweden Democrats' surge.

The Sweden Democrats achieved their highest-ever vote share of 20.5% in this election, leading the right-wing coalition to victory. While the right-wing coalition's win is fortunate, the fact that the Moderate Party's vote share lagged 1.4 percentage points behind the Sweden Democrats is a painful point for Kristersson.

The Moderate Party became the leading conservative party by surpassing the Center Party, the traditional conservative representative party, in the 1979 general election. In subsequent elections, it consistently ranked second after the Social Democrats, solidifying its position as the conservative leader. However, in this election, it lost second place to the Sweden Democrats. The Sweden Democrats have become the most successful anti-immigration party in Europe. However, due to strong opposition to the Sweden Democrats' far-right tendencies and to prevent national division, it is expected that Kristersson, not Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie ?kesson, will serve as prime minister.

Jenny Madestam, a professor at the Swedish Defence University, said, "The Sweden Democrats will try to gain as much as possible by leveraging their position as the second-largest party in parliament," adding, "This complicates matters for Kristersson." Ann-Cathrin Jungar, a professor at S?dert?rn University, said, "The election results have weakened Kristersson's position," and "Although the Sweden Democrats gained only about 1 percentage point more, the symbolic significance is substantial."

The American political media outlet Politico pointed out that if just two members of the right-wing coalition change their minds, the door could open for former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, who resigned on the 15th, to return.

Kristersson must negotiate coalition formation with the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Liberals. The key issue is how to mediate the conflict between the Sweden Democrats and the Liberals. A Liberal Party member said they would reject any cabinet proposal that includes the Sweden Democrats.

After losing the 2018 general election, Kristersson said he would never negotiate with the Sweden Democrats, who are nationalists advocating anti-immigration policies. However, from 2019, he reversed his stance and began negotiations with the Sweden Democrats, drawing criticism for allegedly selling himself to the far-right forces. Kristersson has rebutted this, stating that politically, the Sweden Democrats are on his side.

Meanwhile, some analysts believe that while Kristersson may have extended a hand to the Sweden Democrats, he likely did not expect the Sweden Democrats to surpass the Moderate Party and become the largest conservative party. It is analyzed that he did not anticipate raising a tiger cub.

Kristersson intends to impose limits on social welfare. He claims that not working has become the new normal in Sweden and promises to provide more social benefits to those who work. Since the mid-2010s, Sweden has been the European country accepting the highest number of immigrants per capita. As immigration increased, gun-related incidents have sharply risen recently in Sweden. Kristersson has declared he will tighten immigration controls and strongly crack down on crime.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.