\n<\/p>\n
Early on Monday morning, Kristersson said it remained unclear who would form the next government.<\/p>\n
“The voters have had their say, but we still don’t have a final result. Which government will lead Sweden in the coming years is still an open question,” he told supporters.<\/p>\n
No major media outlets have declared a winner yet.<\/p>\n
Sweden uses a mandate distribution voting system, a proportional representation method to elect “mandates”, or “seats”, in the Riksdag \u2013 the Swedish parliament. A party needs at least 4% of the vote to enter parliament.<\/p>\n
With 95% <\/b>of votes reported, the left-wing bloc led by the Social Democrats was ahead with 176 mandates compared to the right-wing bloc’s 173.<\/p>\n
Counting will continue on Wednesday before the final results determine which side has a clearer path to majority. <\/p>\n
The counting restarts then to include early votes that were submitted late, as well as votes from abroad that did not arrive before election day.<\/p>\n
It is not yet known how many votes will be counted on Wednesday, but back in 2022, more than 220,000 votes were included in the later count. <\/p>\n
If the figures are similar this year, Wednesday’s count could make the difference in the outcome, given that only about 28,000 votes currently separate the blocs. <\/p>\n
Sweden has two major political blocs featuring four parties on the right and four on the left – meaning coalition and minority governments are relatively common.<\/p>\n
On Sunday night, Andersson – the leader of the country’s main opposition party – urged supporters to wait for the final result, but added that if the current results hold, “Sweden will have a new government.”<\/p>\n
Her party, the Social Democrats, have been a major force in Swedish politics since the end of World War Two.<\/p>\n
But SD – founded by Nazi sympathisers in the 1980s – had been shunned for years until 2022 when it became the country’s second largest party after campaigning on violent crime and immigration.<\/p>\n
Both Andersson’s party and the far-right SD have lost support, according to early count results.<\/p>\n
As of Monday morning, the Social Democrats were on track for their worst result in more than a century with 28 per cent, while the count showed the hard-right SD party was losing support for the first time since 2010 when it entered the Riksdag.<\/p>\n
Other parties comprising the left-wing bloc, including the Left Party, Greens and Centre Party have increased their support. <\/p>\n
Turnout also dropped to approximately 80%, down four points compared to the 2022 poll.<\/p>\n
After casting her vote on Sunday, Andersson laid out the choice facing the Swedish public: “Should we have a government entirely dominated by the Sweden Democrats, something that has never happened in Sweden before? Or should we have a government led by me, which will steer Sweden in a new spirit of co-operation?”<\/p>\n
Kristersson, for his part, said it was important he and his alliance were able to continue their work.<\/p>\n
“I think there is a genuine enthusiasm for us being able to continue our important work,” he said after casting his ballot in his home municipality of Strangnas.<\/p>\n
National security, gang crime and welfare spending dominated the election campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n