1ST LEAD Swedish conservative leader accepts task of forming new government By Lennart Simonsson, dpa

Stockholm (dpa) - Swedish conservative leader Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday he would accept the "difficult" task of attempting to form a new government, in the latest development in an election deadlock that has been gripping Sweden since early September."It will be difficult and complicated," Kristersson, leader of the conservative Moderate Party, told reporters.Parliament speaker Andreas Norlen gave Kristersson the nod to attempt to form a government after a second round of consultations with party leaders earlier on Tuesday."It‘s a matter of investigating the possibility of forming a government that can be tolerated by parliament," Norlen told reporters.The September 9 general election resulted in deadlock between the two main political alliances. Neither has a majority in the 349-seat legislature, complicating the formation of a new government.Both have said they will not cooperate with the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, which hold the balance of power with 62 seats.Kristersson was given two weeks to form a government, but could report back earlier to the speaker.A week ago, Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, leader of the Social Democrats, lost a confidence vote, setting in motion efforts to find a new candidate for prime minister.Kristersson was proposed by the four-party centre-right coalition known as the Alliance, which has 143 seats compared to 144 seats for Lofven‘s left-leaning bloc."I will mainly discuss with the Alliance but also with the Social Democrats and Stefan Lofven," Kristersson said.He pledged to work hard to resolve the current deadlock.Lofven said Tuesday it made sense that Kristersson was given the task, so that he could establish how much support he had. The centre-right parties toppled Lofven with support from the Sweden Democrats.The Social Democrats remained opposed to serving as the parliamentary backer of an Alliance government.