Sweden's national election results showed a narrow lead early on Monday for the center-left opposition over the right-wing government, which could halt the Nordic nation's drift away from its liberal heritage. The left-leaning bloc, headed by the Social Democrats' leader Magdalena Andersson, was expected to win 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament, the Riksdag, based on votes from 6,195 of Sweden's 6,312 election districts, the election authority said. The right-wing governing bloc of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was seen winning 173 seats, with ballot-counting continuing, and with final results expected to come on Wednesday at the earliest. The election, while unlikely to change the course of Sweden's pro-Western and pro-Ukraine stance, could decide whether Kristersson's push toward a hard-right clampdown on migration continues or even accelerates. Given the closeness of the race, the winner may not be known for several days, after all overseas ballots have been counted. Kristersson has trailed in opinion polls throughout his four years in office but had been catching up in the final weeks of campaigning, while Andersson and her Social Democrats lost ground. Coalition hopes Hours after voting had ended, Kristersson said he held on to hope that he could still cobble together a majority among the eight political groupings that secured seats in the Riksdag, saying his party's economic policies were more popular than the opposition's. "Even if tonight's results hold, I will explore whether it's possible to find a viable government constellation ... capable of securing support for the fiscal policy Swedish voters have voted for," he said. Andersson's bloc is riven with differences over issues from migration, where she wants a more restrictive line than do some of her partners, to a tax on billionaires and construction of new nuclear reactors. Her budgets may also struggle to find support given that the Left Party, Sweden's former Communist party, and the Centre Party, which favors free-market policies, do not see eye-to-eye on many economic issues. Immigration Electoral success for the Sweden Democrats would be welcomed by Europe's ascendant far-right parties, which were bolstered by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany's win in a German state election last week. The far right hopes for gains in upcoming elections across Europe, with the National Rally's campaign for the French presidency next year potentially its biggest prize. Sweden was long one of Europe's most welcoming countries for immigrants until Kristersson came to power four years ago. His government abolished permanent residency for refugees, tightened welfare rules and stepped up expulsions of those without a right to stay. The Sweden Democrats acknowledge that their party was founded in part by neo-Nazis and white supremacists in the 1980s, but say they have eliminated such extremists from their ranks and have apologized for their past. They have said that, if in government, they will try to ban women from wearing face coverings in public and defund all projects related to the integration of newcomers. In the latest election results, however, the grouping is set for a reduction in both parliamentary seats and vote percentage for the first time in Akesson's more than two decades as party leader.
