STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Initial results left Sweden's political situation unclear and election officials Monday said ballot-counting could extend into mid-week.
Sweden's conservative Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt won a second term in office, but his four-party, center-right alliance did not secure a majority in Sweden's parliament. The far-right Sweden Democrats made it to parliament for the first time, Euobserver.com reported.
Reinfeldt said his coalition will continue to run the country because the Swedish constitution stipulates a government does not have to resign after an election, StockholmNews.com reported Monday.
Reinfeldt said Sunday after polls closed he would reach out to Green party officials Maria Wetterstrand and Peter Eriksson to try to begin some kind of cooperation.
If Reinfeldt's party doesn't have support from a majority in Sweden's parliament, an opposition party can call for a no-confidence vote, observers said.
While Reinfeldt's Moderate Party won 30 percent of the vote, the Sweden Democrats -- an anti-immigrant, extreme right organization-- passed the 4 percent threshold for being seated in parliament by winning 20 of the 349 seats, EUobserver said.
"I am overwhelmed and find it hard to collect my thoughts. Today we have written together political history. It is so amazing," Sweden Democrats leader Jimmie Akesson said Sunday.
