Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden's next prime minister, began talks today with key allies on forming a coalition government after his centre-right alliance ended 12 years of Social Democrat rule.
The 41-year-old will take over from Social Democrat Goran Persson who formally resigned after 10 years as prime minister shortly after the coalition talks began.
The leader of the Moderate Party said the historic victory by his four-party alliance yesterday's election had created "a new Sweden".
Mr Persson (57) was made the scapegoat for the Social Democrat's lacklustre election campaign and has said he will quit as the leader of his party. Although he oversaw strong economic growth, he failed to overcome voter fatigue and accusations that he had lost touch with ordinary people.
"We have agreed to begin a process of forming a government which the four alliance leaders will be responsible for," Mr Reinfeldt said after meeting the heads of the allied Folk Liberals, Centre Party and Christian Democrats.
Mr Reinfeldt told reporters the four alliance partners would need time before deciding ministerial posts. "That lies further out in the government formation process," Reinfeldt said, adding that the partners had until October 6th to present a cabinet to parliament.
Mr Persson handed his formal resignation as premier to the parliamentary speaker, Bjorn Von Sydow.
"It is a strange feeling," he said. "But I prefer to leave after an election defeat where I can say that Sweden is in better shape than for a very, very long time."
Mr Von Sydow will now ask Reinfeldt to form a government.
Aftonbladet, Sweden's biggest selling daily, suggested the Moderates would take almost half the cabinet posts, including finance, labour, justice and education. It named Folk Liberal party leader Lars Leijonborg as likely foreign minister.
It said the key finance minister's job was likely to go to the Moderates' shadow finance minister, Mikael Odenberg, but business daily Dagens Industri suggested Christian Democrat leader Goran Hagglund would take the job.