Swedish opposition bloc fails to form government

Bloomberg

The leader of Sweden’s four-party opposition Alliance called an early end to his attempts to form a government as the Nordic nation struggles to find political stability more than a month after an inconclusive election.
After meeting with the speaker of parliament on Sunday in Stockholm, Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson said he remains ready to be prime minister, but that he sees no possibility of forming a government after talks with opposition colleagues and the Social Democrats.
“I have done everything I can to form a government that stands for the Alliance’s politics,” he said at a press conference. Sweden’s center-right Alliance is divided on whether to seek support from the nationalist Sweden Democrats to form a minority government. The leaders of the Center and Liberal parties on Saturday said they wouldn’t support a narrower right-wing coalition and have steadfastly refused to rule with the backing of the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.
Andreas Norlen, the speaker of parliament, said after meeting Kristersson on Sunday that he would again canvass the party leaders on Monday to see how to proceed.
“It’s probably reasonable to think that another person will get the job” to form a government, he said.
Sweden has now entered a second month of talks after an election handed the nationalists 62 seats in the 349-member parliament. The large chunk of seats means none of the two traditional blocs have a clear path to power without reaching out across the aisle or relying on support from the Sweden Democrats.