Swedish PM Kristersson resigns after defeat — BBC News
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has resigned after his right-wing government bloc narrowly lost the general election to the centre-left opposition. He announced the decision in a post on X on Thursday, BBC News reports.
Preliminary seat distribution
The preliminary vote count after Sunday's election showed that the two blocs were separated by about 50,000 votes. Sweden has a population of approximately 10 million people.
Opposition parties led by Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson may secure 176 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag, Sweden's parliament. The right-wing bloc may win 173 seats, according to the Swedish Election Authority.
The right-wing bloc includes Kristersson's Moderate Coalition Party, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals. The results are to be officially confirmed in the coming days, with the process expected to be completed this weekend.
More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.
Government talks
Andersson has already begun talks on forming a government with the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Green Party. However, consultations may drag on due to significant differences between these parties, particularly over taxes.
Sweden has two major political blocs, each comprising four parties, so coalition and minority governments are common in the country. After the 2022 election, it took 37 days to form a government, while after the 2018 election it took 134 days.
The current centre-right coalition was supported externally by the anti-immigration far-right Sweden Democrats. Kristersson had promised to give the party government posts in the event of victory. According to preliminary data, the Sweden Democrats lost three percentage points of support compared with 2022, for the first time since entering parliament in 2010.
