Sweden's election: opposition narrowly ahead
With 94% of votes counted in Sweden's parliamentary election, opposition parties led by the Social Democrats are narrowly ahead, though it remains unclear whether they can form a government.
With 94% of votes counted in Sweden's Riksdag election, preliminary results show the opposition parties in the lead, though it remains uncertain whether the formal winners — the Social Democrats led by Magdalena Andersson — will be able to form a government. The party is leading with 28.1% of the vote.
In second place is the Moderates, led by sitting Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, with 19.9%, followed by the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats with 17.6%. Further down are the Left Party (8.2%), the Centre Party (7.1%), the Christian Democrats (6.2%), the Green Party (6.1%) and the Liberals (5.4%).
Based on this vote distribution, Andersson together with likely coalition partners — the Centre Party, Greens and Left Party — would secure 176 seats in the Riksdag, while the so-called Tidö coalition parties together with the Sweden Democrats would get 173 seats.
A few months ago, polls predicted a more decisive opposition victory, but the gap between the potential opposition bloc and the Tidö parties has narrowed recently.
Kristersson and other governing coalition parties had previously signaled willingness to bring the Sweden Democrats into government. The party has so far provided supporting votes without formally joining the coalition — such a move would mark its first-ever participation in government.
