Sweden’s right-wing parties begin coalition talks after election
In Sweden, the leaders of the right-wing parties in the so-called Tidö coalition met on Monday evening at the official residence of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to discuss the next steps following a close election result. According to The Local Sweden, preliminary counting gives Kristersson’s bloc 173 seats, while the centre-left bloc has 176.
Christian Democrats leader Ebba Busch said that there is currently only one viable option for forming a government. According to the publication, Kristersson intends to persuade the Centre Party to join the right-wing bloc.
The Centre Party’s position
The Centre Party had previously refused to join a government that includes the Sweden Democrats. At the same time, sources in the right-wing bloc who spoke to Swedish media believe that the party could still be brought into the agreements. Such a scenario is possible if the Tidö coalition retains its current model: the Sweden Democrats would not join the government but would take part in legislative work in parliament.
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The Left Party insists on joining the government in exchange for supporting Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister. Left Party deputy leader Ida Gabrielsson said that the political forces that nominated Andersson for the post of head of government must reach an understanding. Centre Party secretary Hannes Hervieu said the party was ready to negotiate with the Social Democrats but opposed the Left Party’s participation in the government.
Voter priorities and election security
According to an exit poll by public broadcaster SVT, healthcare has become the most important issue for Swedish voters for the third election cycle in a row. It was described as an issue of “very high importance” when choosing a party by 53% of respondents. Education and schools ranked second at 51%, while the economy rose to third place, overtaking law and order issues.
Sweden’s Psychological Defence Agency said it had not detected large-scale coordinated activity by foreign actors it monitors in connection with the election. The National Cyber Security Centre separately reported that it had not recorded any cybersecurity incidents that affected the conduct of the election.
