Sweden's left-wing wins election thriller

Sweden's left-wing opposition won a narrow majority in the country's general election after the vote count ended Thursday, but faces laborious negotiations to form a government.

The four parties in the left-wing bloc, led by Magdalena Andersson's Social Democrats, hold a three-seat majority in the 349-seat parliament over outgoing prime minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing alliance, which includes the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.

But only around 50,000 votes separated the two sides in the country of 10.6 million people.

With the opposition deeply splintered over ideological differences, Andersson's negotiating skills will be put to the test to unite the bloc, made up of the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Greens Party and the Centre Party.

The 59-year-old -- Sweden's first woman prime minister in 2021-2022 and finance minister for seven years before that -- is known as a hard-nosed technocrat with a direct and no-nonsense style.

The negotiations could drag on for weeks, and if Andersson were to fail, Kristersson would be waiting to try to build his own majority.

After the 2022 election, it took 37 days to form a government, much shorter than the 134 days it took to do so in 2018.

Andersson will in particular need to find a path to reconcile differences between the socialist Left Party and the liberal Centre Party.

The Centre Party has said it will oppose a government that includes cabinet posts for the Left Party, which has insisted on having a minister.

Andersson has previously ruled out a government that includes the Left Party, but wants their support in parliament.

On Sunday's election night, Andersson already declared that if the result held "Sweden will have a new government".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, heading one of the few left-wing governments in Europe, hailed the win.

"Social democracy has won the elections in Sweden. After four years of a right-wing government with the far right, the Swedes are once again backing the welfare state, social justice and the green agenda," Sanchez said in a post to X.

Parliament can vote on a new prime minister on September 29 at the earliest.

Kristersson resigned after the results were announced, allowing the parliament speaker to initiate talks with party leaders to appoint one to form a government.

Kristersson said on election night that he would respect Andersson's attempts to form a government, but wished her "good luck" given the divisions among her left-wing bloc.

He said he was ready to explore options to find a majority among "non-socialist" parties.

He is seen as wanting to woo the Centre Party -- which used to belong to the right-wing bloc -- though it is staunchly opposed to a government which includes the Sweden Democrats.

Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist on election night stressed the party had "been clear that we are going into the election on the basis that the extremes should not dominate a government."

The Social Democrats -- which ruled the Scandinavian country for most of the 20th century and remains Sweden's largest party -- also looked to be heading for their worst score in over a century with 28.0 percent of the vote.

In a big surprise, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, which entered parliament in 2010, lost support for the first time, garnering 17.5 percent of the vote, down three percentage points from the last election in 2022.