Sweden: Left-wing opposition wins elections, prime minister resigns
The opposition left-wing camp, led by the Social Democratic Magdalena Andersson, won the Swedish parliamentary elections held last Sunday, according to election authority tallies released on Thursday, while Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced his resignation after conceding defeat.
Andersson pledged to form a government that would “push Sweden forward.” In a video posted on social media, she said, “The Swedish people have chosen a new path for our country. They voted for unity and rejected division. The Swedish people voted to push Sweden forward. And I want to make this new path a tangible reality,” adding, “It is a new era.”
The left cannot afford to make a mistake, as the coalition of the right and the far-right, which lost the election by a narrow margin of just 50,000 votes, is waiting for any misstep.
Andersson, 59, had been seeking to return to the premiership since leaving office in 2022.
Known as a seasoned negotiator and dubbed the “Swedish Merkel” for her pragmatic and direct approach, Andersson will attempt to unite within a single coalition two parties that struggle even to communicate.
Within her camp, her allies in the Left Party and the Centre Party had drawn red lines throughout the election campaign. The Centre Party does not want to see left-wing ministers in the government, while the Left Party insists on their inclusion.
Andersson herself appears hesitant about bringing the Left Party into the government. During the campaign, the daily newspaper Expressen reported statements made by members of the party that were considered antisemitic.
The opposition leader announced her readiness to take office starting Sunday. She had told her supporters, “If these results are confirmed, Sweden will have a new government.”
She stated, “After four years of a right-wing government allied with the far-right, Swedes are restoring their trust in the welfare state, social justice, and environmental transition.”
However, the 62-year-old leader may also seek to form a government if the left-wing camp fails to do so.
To achieve this, he would need to find other partners for the coalition, which seems unlikely at this stage.
The Centre Party, which Kristersson is trying to push to the right, does not want a government in which the far-right holds ministerial portfolios, whereas Kristersson had promised the far-right party such positions had they won the election.
The decline of the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party allied with Kristersson, was one of the most notable developments in these elections.
The party’s influence declined for the first time since entering parliament in 2010, with its vote share dropping from 20.5% in 2022 to 17.5%, making Kristersson’s Moderate Party the second-largest political force in the country.
The election results were very close, and voter turnout was higher than usual, necessitating an extra day to count approximately 300,000 votes cast either by expatriates or early voters.
