Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he will resign after the left-wing opposition won 176 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, giving it a three-seat majority over the outgoing conservative-led bloc.
The result was announced on Thursday after only about 50,000 votes separated the two sides in the country of 10.6 million people. Kristersson said he was asking to be relieved of office so the process of forming a new government could begin.
Andersson faces divided coalition
Former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s centre-left Social Democrats were the largest single party, strengthening her hopes of returning to the post she lost in 2022. The four-party bloc also includes the Left Party, the Greens Party and the Centre Party.
The parties do not agree on how a government should be formed. The Centre Party has said it will oppose a cabinet that gives ministers’ posts to the Left Party, while the Left Party has insisted on receiving a ministerial role. Andersson has ruled out a government that includes the Left Party but wants its support in parliament.
Parliament’s next stage
The speaker of the Riksdag will lead the next stage of the government-formation process. Parliament can vote on a new prime minister on September 29 at the earliest.
Kristersson said he would respect Andersson’s efforts to form a government, while warning that the divisions within the left-wing bloc would make the task difficult.
Sweden Democrats lose support
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, which entered parliament in 2010, received 17.5 percent of the vote. That was a fall of three percentage points from the 2022 election and marked the party’s first loss of support. Read the context: Bangsamoro parties face coalition talks after first election.
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