Three days after the hard-fought parliamentary elections in Sweden, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has admitted defeat. The conservative-right camp received a narrow majority, so she will submit her resignation as prime minister on Thursday, the social democrat said on Wednesday evening in Stockholm. Responsibility for the further process will then pass to Parliament President Andreas Norlén and the Reichstag. Until a new government starts work, she will lead an interim government.
Shortly before the end of the vote count, the conservative right-wing camp was able to extend its minimal lead. A mandate migrated from Prime Minister Andersson’s Social Democrats to the moderates of her challenger Kristersson on Wednesday evening, according to figures on the Swedish electoral authority’s website. At that point, more than 99 percent of all 6,578 constituencies had been provisionally counted.
The lead of Kristersson’s four-party bloc, including the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, over Andersson’s four-party camp grew to 176 to 173 seats, after having been 175 to 174 at the end. 175 of the 349 seats in the Reichstag in Stockholm are necessary for a majority. A provisional final result of Sunday’s Reichstag election is expected on Wednesday evening.
Whether the four parties from Kristersson’s bloc can ultimately agree on government cooperation remains to be seen. However, the head of the Christian Democrats, Ebba Busch, who is allied with Kristersson’s moderates, already wrote on Instagram: “The Swedish people have voted for a change of power!”
Sweden experienced an election thriller on Sunday. In the first forecasts, Andersson’s camp, which also consisted of four parties, was just in the lead. During the evening of the election, the numbers tipped in favor of Kristersson, who led by a minimal margin of 175 to 174 seats. The race between the camps was so close that the electoral authorities did not announce a preliminary result during the night. First she wanted to count postal votes cast late and votes from Swedes from abroad.