Sweden is facing a protracted struggle to form a government after preliminary results from Sunday's general election show a narrow lead for the centre-left opposition bloc. With 95% of the votes counted, the bloc led by the Social Democrats holds a slim lead of 176 seats to the right-leaning parties' 173. This result marks one of the tightest parliamentary votes in Swedish history.
The Social Democrats topped the polls but recorded their worst result since 1911. In contrast, the far-right Sweden Democrats lost ground for the first time since entering parliament 16 years ago. Party leader Magdalena Andersson has started coalition negotiations, though she faces a difficult process navigating the complex and contradictory demands of the left-leaning bloc.
Final results are expected between Wednesday and Thursday, following the count of postal and overseas ballots and automatic recounts by the country's regions. The parliament is not set to meet until late September to elect a new speaker and a prime minister.