Sweden's election too close to call as far right loses ground

STOCKHOLM: Sweden's general election was too close to call early Monday, as the incumbent prime minister and the left-wing opposition leader both said they were ready to govern, while the far right appeared to be losing ground.

With more than 90% of votes counted, four opposition parties led by Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson held a three-seat majority in the 349-seat parliament over Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing alliance, which includes the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

"For now, we are in the lead. And if that is confirmed, Sweden will have a new government," 59-year-old Andersson, who was Sweden's first woman prime minister in 2021-2022, told her supporters.

But her party -- which ruled the Scandinavian country for most of the 20th century and remains Sweden's largest -- also looked set for its worst score in over a century, with 28% of the vote.

Outgoing prime minister Kristersson, whose Moderate Party was credited with 19.9% of the counted votes, meanwhile said that if the result stood, he would respect Andersson's attempts to try to form a government with the three other parties on the left.

But he noted that the four had irreconcilable differences, primarily between the Left Party and the Centre Party, and were unlikely to agree on a government program.

"I will therefore, even if tonight's result stands, examine whether there are any possibilities within this non-socialist parliamentary majority to find some workable government constellation," Kristersson told his supporters.

"Which government is going to govern Sweden in the coming years is still an open question," Kristersson declared.

In a big surprise, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, which entered parliament in 2010, lost support for the first time, garnering 17.6% of the vote, down from 20.6% in 2022.

"We don't yet have the full election result, but it's obvious that we've lost a few percentage points compared with our result four years ago," party leader Jimmie Akesson told an election night watch party.

Now mainstream

But he said it was a success that supporters were no longer afraid to show their support for the party long seen as a political pariah.

"There are now so many more people around our country who no longer find it difficult to say that they are Sweden Democrats," Akesson said.

The final outcome might not be clear for a few days, several party leaders said.

Municipal election authorities will start counting votes on Wednesday that had not reached their destination on election night.

In Sweden, regional county administrative boards also automatically recount all votes and establish the final result. This process usually takes a week.

Kristersson has headed a minority coalition backed by the Sweden Democrats for four years, giving the far-right influence over policy in exchange for support in parliament.

Kristersson had promised the Sweden Democrats key cabinet posts if the right-wing won.

Throughout the campaign, opinion polls gave the left-wing opposition a comfortable lead, but the gap narrowed to a dead heat in the final days.

Much of the campaign focused on healthcare and helping struggling households cope with rising costs.

Andersson, the first woman to head Sweden's government in 2021-2022, has pledged to raise taxes on banks and high incomes, cut healthcare queues, and improve declining school results.

'Make Sweden Great Again’

Kristersson meanwhile vowed to focus on improving Swedes' everyday lives now that his government's clampdown on organized crime and immigration was starting to show results.

Deadly shootings and bombings by organized crime networks have fallen sharply in recent years, while asylum applications are at a record low.

"We want to use our new and far better preconditions to improve the lives of ordinary people... to make Sweden great again," Kristersson told AFP before the vote, borrowing US President Donald Trump's trademark slogan.

Over the past two decades, far-right leader Jimmie Akesson has steered the party with neo-Nazi roots into the mainstream.

"Sweden is becoming safer, better, and more Swedish," Akesson told a campaign rally on Saturday, surrounded by blue-and-yellow "Make Sweden Sweden Again" posters.

At a polling station on Sunday, store manager Linda Eriksson, 48, told AFP she hoped for a change of government.

"Hopefully a lot of people will realize that we have to change course ... so that everyone will feel included in society," she said.