The Swedish parliament on Monday reappointed Anders Norlen of the Moderates party as its speaker, local media reported.

The speaker of the parliament is second only to the King in terms of formal rank. He had been nominated by the opposition blue block that narrowly won the election on September 11.

"I would like to thank the parties that acted differently than they usually do in speaker elections," local media quoted Norlen as saying, referring to both blocs' support for his nomination.

Gunilla Carlsson, a member of parliament for the Social Democratic Party, said that they supported Norlen's election as he was "a speaker who can unite and not divide."

Norlen, a member of parliament since 2006 and during 2014-2018 chairman of the Committee on the Constitution, was first elected speaker following the 2018 election.

Then, it took 134 days to form a new government following the 2018 election, but Norlen has said that this year's process will probably be faster.

Earlier this month, the opposition blue bloc consisting of the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, the Liberal Party and the Sweden Democrats, had won 176 of the 349 seats in parliament.

The red bloc that supported the current government, consisting of the Social Democratic Party, the Left Party, the Green Party, and the Center Party, won 173 seats.

(Cover: Andreas Norlen, speaker of the Swedish Parliament, speaks during a news conference after his meeting with all party leaders to appoint a prime minister who will be tasked to form a new government, Stockholm, Sweden, September 19, 2022. /Reuters)