Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, has announced plans to resign after the centre-left opposition secured a narrow majority in the country’s parliamentary election.
The Swedish Election Authority said on Thursday that the four parties in the opposition bloc won 176 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, giving them a slim three-seat majority over the centre-right bloc, which secured 173 seats.
Only about 50,000 votes separated the two blocs in the election.
Following the announcement of the final results, Kristersson said he had asked to be relieved of his position to allow the process of forming a new government to begin.
Former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s Social Democratic Party emerged as the largest single party, although it recorded a decline in support compared with the previous election.
Andersson is now seeking to return as prime minister, a position she held between 2021 and 2022. However, forming a government could prove difficult because of differences among the four parties that make up the centre-left bloc.
The bloc includes the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Greens and the Centre Party.
The Centre Party has said it would not support a government that gives ministerial positions to the Left Party, while the Left Party has insisted on securing a ministerial role. Andersson has also ruled out forming a government that formally includes the Left Party, although she wants its support in parliament.
The Swedish parliament could vote on a new prime minister as early as September 29.
Meanwhile, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats suffered a decline in support, winning 17.5 per cent of the vote. This represents a three-percentage-point drop compared with the party’s performance in the 2022 election.
The result marks the first time the Sweden Democrats have lost electoral support since entering parliament in 2010.I can also make this shorter and more punchy in Punch/Vanguard/Daily Post Nigerian online-news style.
Tags
World News