Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition has gained one seat in an election recount but failed to win an overall majority, final tallies published Thursday by the Election Authority showed. The far-right Sweden Democrats were elected to parliament for the first time in Sunday's polls, winning 20 seats and 5.7 per cent of the vote. The party's success denied both Reinfeldt's centre-right coalition and the opposition bloc a majority, dpa reported. The recount put Reinfeldt's four-party coalition on 173 seats, two shy of a majority in the 349-seat legislature. The main opposition, made up of Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Left Party were on 156, dropping one seat compared to Sunday's preliminary tally. Reinfeldt had earlier said he would approach the Greens to see if they were prepared to support government bills, but political horse- trading is expected as the Greens have cited differences on several areas including environment and welfare issues. Both Reinfeldt and the opposition have said they do not intend to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats to achieve a working majority. The recount included ballots posted by Swedes living abroad and advance votes cast on election day. The Election Authority said voter turnout among the 7.1 million eligible voters was 84.6 per cent. At the 2006 general election it was 82 per cent.
