A poll has shown that only eight per cent of Swedes think the ruling Social Democrats can solve the rising problem of gang violence in the next six months.
The results of the poll, which was conducted by Sifo, show that the vast majority of Swedes, some 88 per cent, say that the levels of violence will either remain unchanged or will increase in the coming months, Swedish newspaper Expressen reports.
Toivo Sjörén, head of opinion at Sifo, said the total lack of confidence was a serious issue for the government.
“Of course, those in the government must bear the greatest responsibility. But it can lead to a distrust in society when there is such low confidence in police and politicians,” he said.
“It is serious if the state cannot deliver what is part of the social contract,” he added.
The low confidence from Swedes comes after Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven appeared in Gothenburg earlier this week and said that police would be enacting measures that would see positive changes within the next six months in regards to gang violence.
The Swedish prime minister claimed that there was no link between the rise of gang violence and the level of mass migration seen over the last several years, despite several Swedish media reports pointing to a high number of migration-related crimes in the country.
“The segregation is because there is too low employment and too high unemployment in these areas. But that would have been the same regardless of who had lived there. If you put people born in Sweden under the same conditions, you get the same result,” Mr Löfven claimed.
Gang violence has increased across the country in recent years, with 2019 seeing a considerable increase in explosions thought to be linked to gang crime.
Shootings have also remained at high levels, with a 15-year-old being fatally shot in the multicultural southern city of Malmö earlier this month.
A report released in September by Expressen claimed that the vast majority of shooting suspects in the city were from migrant backgrounds.