Sweden Election: Left Bloc Holds Thin Lead as Government Talks Loom
Sweden's left-leaning opposition leads narrowly after a tight election, with final results due Wednesday and coalition talks expected to be difficult.
Sweden is bracing for a potentially lengthy wait for a new government after preliminary election results showed a narrow and still-uncertain lead for the left-leaning opposition.
With nearly 95% of districts counted, the Swedish Election Authority reported that four opposition parties were on course for 176 seats in the 349-seat Riksdag. The four parties that make up or support the outgoing conservative-led government were set to take 173 seats.
The outcome may not be confirmed until Wednesday, when early votes, including ballots from overseas that did not reach polling stations by Election Day, are counted.
Former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson's centre-left Social Democrats were poised to finish as the largest single party, despite losing some support. Andersson is seeking to return to the job she lost in 2022.
Even if the left-leaning bloc secures a majority, Andersson faces a complicated task in turning it into a government because of tensions within the grouping.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that "if all the red lines remain in place, then Sweden won't have a government at all," according to public broadcaster SVT. He added that he intends to "explore a number of possibilities that may exist."
Prominent Social Democrat Mikael Damberg said that "all parties will have to do some giving and taking, and we will do that too," Swedish news agency TT reported.
Kristersson has led Sweden since 2022 with a three-party centre-right coalition, relying on outside support from the Sweden Democrats, an anti-immigration party with far-right roots that has moved toward the political mainstream, for a parliamentary majority.
He had held out the prospect of cabinet seats for the Sweden Democrats this time if the governing coalition won. Their performance, however, was disappointing: preliminary results showed their support slipping to just under 18%, down about 3 percentage points from four years ago, and they fell behind Kristersson's Moderates to land in third place.
Sweden, a country of about 10.6 million people, is a member of the European Union and NATO's newest member. Whoever ends up forming the next government, experts say Sweden is unlikely to return to more liberal migration policies after two decades of growing right-wing influence.