Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson resigns after election loss

Key Points:

• Ulf Kristersson announced his resignation as Sweden's prime minister following a closely contested election where the right-wing bloc led by his Moderates and supported by the Sweden Democrats (SD) secured 173 seats in the Riksdag.
• The right-wing coalition, including the Moderates, SD, Christian Democrats, and Liberals, won by a margin of about 50,000 votes in a country of 10 million people, with formal certification of results expected soon.
• The Speaker of the Riksdag will now begin consultations to propose a new prime minister candidate, while opposition leader Magdalena Andersson has started talks with other parties to form a government amid significant policy differences.
• The Sweden Democrats, once shunned for their extremist origins, have rebranded and become Sweden's second-largest party, influencing stricter migration policies and demanding cabinet positions as part of their support for the right-wing bloc.
• Forming a new government could be complex and time-consuming, as previous Swedish elections have seen government formation take from over a month to several months, with the opposition facing challenges due to conflicting pre-election party statements.