Sweden´s Social Democrats reclaim power, as far right gains

STOCKHOLM: A left-leaning coalition led by Sweden´s opposition Social Democrats defeated the incumbent centre-right government in Sunday´s general election, while the far right was headed for historic gains.

The anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats more than doubled their votes, to about 13 percent, becoming the Nordic country´s third-largest party and the "absolute kingmaker" in the legislature.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who has presided over a four-party conservative-liberal coalition for the past eight years, conceded defeat late Sunday with the vote counting almost complete.

"We didn´t make it," the 49-year-old leader of the Moderates party told supporters in Stockholm, adding he would hand in his resignation Monday.

This sets the stage for the Social Democrat leader, 57-year-old former trade unionist Stefan Loefven, to attempt to form a minority coalition government with the Greens and the former communist Left Party.

With over 95 percent of all districts counted, the red-green coalition had garnered a total of 43.6 percent of the vote.

This compared with 39.5 percent for the four-party Alliance led by Reinfeldt."It looks like a Social Democrat-led government and that of course is a victory," Social Democrat party secretary Carin Jaemtin told AFP earlier Sunday.