Ulf Kristersson asked to try to form government amid political tensions in Sweden

The speaker of Sweden's parliament said on Tuesday he had given the leader of the centre-right, opposition Alliance, Ulf Kristersson, a mandate to see if he can form a Government.

Voters delivered a hung parliament in the Sept. 9 general election with the centre-left bloc headed by the Social Democrats garnering 144 seats, one more than the four-party Alliance.

The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, with 62 seats, hold the balance of power but have said they will not support an Alliance or a centre-left Government without gaining influence over policy.