Pressure mounts on center-right alliance ahead of Swedish vote

Bloomberg

Two months after Sweden’s inconclusive election the country still has no government and the center-right Alliance coalition risks splitting up amid deep disagreements over whether to accept support from nationalists.
Sweden is facing what could be the most tumultuous week yet after the September 9 vote, which saw the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats emerge as king-makers with none of the two establishment blocs emerging with a majority.
Parliament will on Wednesday vote on whether to make opposition and Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson prime minister. But with two of his opposition allies unlikely to back him, his path to victory is all but blocked in this round.
Kristersson was on Monday formally picked by the speaker and said he will seek to form a small minority government with the Christian Democrats, which would need backing from the Sweden Democrats and the other center-right parties on key issues.
He conceded that his push for power was a long shot, since his Center and Liberal party allies declined to take part in his government.
Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch Thor said on Monday that it would be “historic” if her Alliance colleagues vote against a center-right prime minister candidate, especially since they have over the past four years allowed a minority Social Democrat-led government to rule.
The coming vote was forced by the speaker of parliament, Andreas Norlen, who’s trying to speed things up after two months of gridlock.
The two biggest parties, the Moderates and the Social Democrats, have rejected all talk of a grand coalition.