In Sweden, many breathe sigh of relief as far right suffers election losses

Stockholm, Sweden – Jimmie Akesson, leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), cast his early ballot in Rinkeby, a Stockholm suburb where most residents have a minority background.“It was a political stunt,” said 18-year-old Sumeyah Ali. “It was meant to provoke.”Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘I’ll never be Swedish enough’: Far-right campaign upsets minority groupslist 2 of 3As Sweden heads to polls, Israel and Palestine policies are on the ballotlist 3 of 3Multicultural Malmo: Swedish city loathed by far right braces for electionend of listAfter voting, Akesson told reporters Rinkeby “doesn’t look like Sweden … Sweden shouldn’t look like this, I think.”His provocative comments were designed to fuel the party’s anti-immigration and Islamophobic rhetoric, said Ali at an office space for Jarva i samverkan, a Stockholm-based network of local nonprofits that coordinates free activities and youth programmes.But his apparent bid failed.Although the overall general election is too close to call, one result is clear: the SD suffered its first-ever decline in a parliamentary election, falling three percentage points to 17.5 percent and slipping from second to third place...