Social Democrat leader Lofven asked to form new Swedish govt

The speaker of Sweden’s parliament said on Monday he had asked Social Democrat leader and caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to try to form a government. The move came after the head of the center-right opposition gave up a similar attempt at the weekend, Reuters reports. A general election on September 9 delivered a hung parliament with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats holding the balance of power. Neither the center-left nor center-right bloc is willing to do a deal with them. Moderate Party and center-right Alliance bloc leader Ulf Kristersson had tried to form a government but failed. Lofven, who has two weeks to find a workable government, lost a vote of no-confidence as prime minister on September 25. His center-left bloc of the Social Democrats, Greens and Left party has 144 seats in the 349-member parliament, one more than the center-right Alliance.