Swedish government makes deal to contain nationalists

Sweden's mainstream political parties reached a deal Saturday that will allow the minority center-left government to remain in office and sideline the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

Sweden's normally stable politics were thrown into turmoil in December when Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said he would call a snap election in March after his budget was voted down by the center-right opposition and the Sweden Democrats. Had the vote taken place, it would have been the nation's first snap election since 1958.

The Sweden Democrats, a far-right nationalist party of the kind currently gaining ground across Europe, more than doubled its seats in the last parliamentary election. Because Sweden's center-left governing coalition does not command a majority, the Sweden Democrats hold the balance of power between them and the center-right opposition coalition. Yet neither the government nor the opposition wants to work with the hardline anti-immigration party.

The deal between the center-left Social Democrats and Green coalition and the four-party center-right Alliance will mean Lofven will have to follow the opposition's budget next year, although he can make some changes in spring.

Recent opinion polls show that a new election would not have broken the political deadlock in parliament, with neither the center-right nor center-left able to form a majority government and the Sweden Democrats continuing to hold the balance of power.

Some polls have shown Lofven's Social Democrats, the biggest government party, gaining support, along with the Sweden Democrats.

A poll by Novus on Dec. 16 put support for the Sweden Democrats at 16 percent, up from 12.9 percent in September's vote.

Al Jazeera and wire services