Jimmie Akesson Launches Final Push for Swedish Election

The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson, launched the final two weeks of the Swedish parliamentary election campaign with a rally in his hometown of Solvesborg. Akesson is attempting to close a six-point polling gap between the opposition Social Democrats and the incumbent center-right government led by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The Sweden Democrats currently support the Kristersson administration and have been promised a role in the next government if the coalition wins. Akesson has expressed specific interest in becoming the justice minister, centering his party's platform on harsher criminal justice penalties and stricter immigration laws.

The election, scheduled for September 13, will likely depend on whether voters believe the party has sufficiently distanced itself from its neo-Nazi roots and previous scandals involving antisemitism and racism.