Swedish center-left opposition wins general elections

The Social Democratic Party, famed for having built Sweden's reputable welfare "Nordic Model," became the biggest winner with over 31 percent of the vote. Together with the Green Party and the Left Party, the "red-green" alliance harvested 43.5 percent of the vote, compared with 39.5 percent for the center-right ruling bloc.

Meanwhile, the anti-immigration far-right Sweden Democrats gained an unexpected 13 percent, making it the third-biggest winner. The huge gain doubled what it achieved four years ago. The party was dubbed by local media as a "balance of power" between the center-left and center-right blocs.

The "red-green" alliance appears unable to form a majority in parliament, and therefore probably has to partner with small parties within the ruling center-right bloc to form a new government. The poor performance of the ruling coalition has forced Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt to announced his resignation both as prime minister and Moderate Party leader.

Social Democratic head Stefan Lofven, leader of the opposition "red-green" alliance, is ready to replace Reinfeldt as the next Swedish head of government.

"Tonight Sweden has decided -- a change is needed. I am ready to probe the possibilities for creating a new government in Sweden," said Lofven just after midnight.

"All parties have a responsibility now. I'll talk to other parties. My hand is outstretched. I'll talk to the Greens, but also to other parties," Lofven said, in hope of forming a stable majority government soon.

However, he explicitly stated that he would not cooperate with the far-right Sweden Democrats. "Even if the Sweden Democrats had even higher numbers, we would not cooperate with them," said Lofven, amid cheers of his supporters.

About 7 million Swedes went to the polls on Sunday to select 349 members of parliament. The final election results is expected on Saturday and the newly elected parliament will convene on Sept. 29, Xinhua reported Monday.