Reuters: The leaders of Sweden’s center-right opposition Alliance on Wednesday urged the incumbent Social Democrat-led bloc to step aside and help them form a viable government to break a post-election deadlock.
The rise of the far-right Sweden Democrats, shunned by both center-right and center-left, left both big mainstream blocs neck-and-neck, and short of a majority, in Sunday’s election.
The Alliance has already rejected an informal invitation from the current prime minister, Stefan Lofven, to support a Social Democrat-led government.
“We want to build an Alliance government with support from across the political divide,” the leaders of the Moderate, Centre, Christian Democrat and Liberal parties said in a signed article in the daily Dagens Nyheter.
“Sweden needs stable economic policies and major long-term political reforms that will need broad parliamentary support to achieve.”
The Social Democrats, who have dominated Swedish politics for 100 years, declined to comment, but analysts said there was no indication that Lofven would do anything other than rebuff the offer.