Sweden Election
With 92 per cent of the vote counted early Monday, the Swedish Election Authority reported the four opposition parties were heading for 175 seats in the 349-seat parliament to 174 seats for the government alliance. Andersson served as prime minister from 2021 until she lost power at the last election. The Sweden Democrats’ role was in focus against a background of gains for the populist right in Europe, including the first-place finish by the far-right Alternative for Germany party in a regional election there September 6.
But Kristersson also said he would explore “possibilities” given the close result. Andersson told supporters that “we must wait for the final election result” but added that “right now we are leading … Sweden’s national election was too close to call early Monday, with preliminary results giving the left-wing opposition a razor-thin one-seat advantage over Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s right wing coalition and days of uncertainty until the final ballots are counted. Preliminary results showed a very narrow lead for the opposition and former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s bid to return to office at the head of the left coalition. The outcome of the election may not be decided until Wednesday, when local election boards count early votes that did not make it to the polling stations by Election Day. This includes, among others things, overseas votes. But we have to wait for the final result. The centre left Social Democrats have led most Swedish governments since World War II. To return to office she would have to seal a coalition agreement with other parties. With broad political consensus in Sweden on several major issues such as support for Ukraine and the country’s decision to join NATO, much election discussion focused on the possibility of the anti-immigration hard right entering government.