Swedes vote in election clouded by far-right advance

Swedes go to the polls Sunday with surveys hinting voters will re-elect the centre-right government, as the far-right makes its debut in parliament and could be handed the role of kingmaker.Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, 45, is vying to see his four-party coalition become the first rightwing government to win a second term in nearly a century.That would spell a decisive break with the hold on power of the Social Democrats, who have dominated Swedish politics for 80 years and considered the caretakers of the country's famous cradle-to-grave welfare state.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt could still retain a majority in parliament if remaining ballots counted Wednesday swing his way, which could shrink the influence of the far-right.Reinfeldt's four-party coalition of the centre-right was narrowly re-elected following Sunday's polls, but fell three seats short of a majority in the 349-seat parliament.However, fewer than 300 votes out of the some 60,000 cast by Swedes living abroad could save Reinfeldt's government and limit the influence of the far-right on a hung parliament, media reports said Wednesday.

Pier Luigi Bersani, who heads the centre-left (Common Good) coalition has a mandate by the Italian president (Giorgio Napolitano), to form the next government of Italy and become its next Prime Minister. However, talks between Bersani, and Silvio Berlusconi’s centre-right Popolo della Libertà PDL (the People of Freedom) alliance fizzled yesterday, as expected. Talks between Bersani and Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement M5S fizzled today, also as expected.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was forced to size up her election-year strategy Monday after a bitter defeat to the centre-left opposition in a cliffhanger state poll. In one of the tightest state races in recent memory, the Social Democrats and the Greens Sunday eked out a one-seat majority in Lower Saxony over the incumbent coalition of Merkel's Christian Democrats with the Free Democrats.

Odds of a lasting coalition are slim given the massive vote against the austerity coalition. Fotis Kouvelis, SYRIZA party leader and second place finisher in the elections repeated his position that cooperation with New Democracy and PASOK was not in his intentions. Moreover, Greece's Democratic Left party refuses to join any pro-bailout coalition.

The BBC reports New election blow for Germany's Merkel Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives have suffered heavy losses in an election in Germany's most populous state, exit polls suggest. Support for the Christian Democrats dropped from 35% to 26% in North Rhine-Westphalia, with the Social Democrats set to return to power with the Greens. It is the Christian Democrats' worst result in the state.