Sweden’s opposition leader Magdalena Andersson says she has not yet been able to form a government, leaving the country in political uncertainty weeks after an election that gave her bloc a narrow parliamentary advantage.

Andersson’s Social Democrats led a centre-left bloc to 176 seats in the 13 September election, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing coalition won 173 seats.

That arithmetic gives the centre-left a lead, but not a functioning government. Reuters reported that the four parties in Andersson’s bloc disagree over who should be allowed to join the new administration. The dispute has prevented the electoral result from becoming a governing majority.

The impasse illustrates the difference between winning an election and being able to govern after one. A bloc can hold more seats than its rival while still lacking agreement over cabinet positions, policy priorities or the terms on which smaller parties will support a prime minister.

For Sweden, the negotiations are taking place against a European backdrop in which coalition-building has become more difficult. Traditional party alignments are under pressure, and parties that agree on removing an incumbent may still disagree over migration, welfare, the economy or the role of parties further to the right.

The country’s immediate challenge is institutional rather than dramatic. Public services continue, but ministers and parliament must operate with clarity about who is authorised to set priorities and command political support. Prolonged uncertainty can also complicate the passage of budgets and the presentation of a stable position on European security.

Andersson’s statement does not mean that the election result has been overturned or that a new election is inevitable. It means that the parties that won the larger bloc have not yet settled the question of government. Until they do, Sweden’s narrow seat advantage remains a political opening rather than a governing settlement.