STOCKHOLM —
Sweden’s conservative party leader Ulf Kristersson was formally asked on Monday
to try to form a government, a week after his right-wing alliance won a narrow
election victory.
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The vote marked a
watershed in Swedish politics, with Kristersson’s Moderate Party and two other
right-wing parties teaming up for the first time with the far-right
Sweden Democrats (SD).
After talks with
party leaders, the speaker of Sweden’s parliament, Andreas Norlen, said he had
tasked Kristersson with “probing the conditions to form a government that can
be tolerated by the parliament”.
Under the Swedish
system, a prospective prime minister can only assume office if they control a
majority in parliament.
Outgoing Prime
Minister Magdalena Andersson announced her resignation last week after the
right-wing bloc won 176 seats — 73 of them going to the nationalist,
anti-immigration SD. Andersson’s center-left alliance won 173.
The SD, once
shunned as pariahs, emerged as the second largest party in parliament behind
Andersson’s Social Democrats, which have dominated Swedish politics since the
1930s.
Norlen said he had
not set a deadline for Kristersson to try and form a government.
While the four
parties in the right-wing bloc all say they support Kristersson, forming a
government is not without obstacles.
The parties are
diametrically opposed on multiple issues.
SD leader Jimmie
Akesson wants cabinet posts but the Liberals have vowed to block any government
that includes the SD.
After a general
election in 2018 ended in political stalemate, it took four months until the
Social Democrats succeeded in forming a minority government.
Kristersson told a
news conference earlier on Monday that negotiations with other parties were
going well but declined to speculate when a new government could take power.
“It will take some
time but not like four years ago,” he said.
Andersson will lead
an interim government until a new prime minister is elected.
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