Sweden faces political uncertainty after election thriller

Sunday's election also served up a surprise setback to the far-right Sweden Democrats, who lost ground for the first time since entering parliament 16 years ago.The leader of the left-wing opposition, Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats, and outgoing conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson have each said they want to explore coalition options to secure power, but both would have to make major concessions to obtain a majority.Both the Social Democrats and Kristersson's Moderates held party meetings on Monday to hammer out their strategy.While the left-wing held a slim lead, the bloc was expected to face thorny negotiations to form a government, with the talks expected to drag on for several weeks.Parliament can vote on a new prime minister on September 29 at the earliest.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.Political analyst Mats Knutson told public broadcaster SVT that both blocs were likely to end up in a "stalemate that paves the way for a long and troublesome process of forming a government, which could end in a snap election"."One or several parties may have to abandon their 'red lines...