Sweden's opposition holds one-seat lead with 99 pct of districts counted

STOCKHOLM, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- Sweden's center-left opposition bloc held a razor-thin lead in the parliamentary election, with 175 of the 349 seats in the Riksdag against 174 for the right-wing bloc backing the incumbent government, according to preliminary results reported by Swedish Television (SVT) on Wednesday.

People vote at a polling station in Stockholm, Sweden, Sept. 13, 2026. (Photo: Xinhua)

With 99 percent of electoral districts counted, the opposition bloc received a combined 49.4 percent of the vote, narrowly ahead of the right-wing bloc's 49.0 percent.

The Social Democrats remained the largest party with 28 percent of the vote, followed by the Moderates at 19.9 percent and the Sweden Democrats at 17.6 percent.