(Adnkronos) – The Speaker of the Swedish Parliament announced today that he will ask MPs to vote next week on the appointment of Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, leader of the Centre Party, as prime minister, despite being aware that such an attempt has little chance of success. Speaker Andreas Norlen stated that, although Thand Ringqvist declared earlier this week that she had failed to unite the left and right parties, he still intends to move the parliamentary process forward.
Consequently, at the conclusion of the exploratory mandate entrusted to Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, Norlen – to whom this task falls – will proceed to submit her candidacy to a parliamentary vote, scheduled for Tuesday. Should the vote not lead to the election of a new prime minister, Norlen explained that he will turn to the outgoing premier, Ulf Kristersson, to ascertain if he is able to form a government.
In the September 13 elections, the opposition left bloc secured a three-seat majority over the right-wing alignment led by Kristersson; however, opposition leader Magdalena Andersson has twice given up on attempting to form a left-wing government. Currently, Kristersson heads a transitional government.
In an attempt to break the deadlock – given that neither the left bloc nor the right bloc managed to achieve a majority – Andreas Norlen had tasked Thand Ringqvist with exploring the conditions for an “intermediate solution.” After the elections, Ringqvist had put forward the hypothesis of a “centre” government that would include moderate political forces, but excluding the Left Party (socialist-oriented) and the Sweden Democrats (anti-immigration formation). The Centre Party has ruled out any collaboration with the Sweden Democrats, making it virtually impossible for the right bloc to obtain a majority in Parliament. On the opposite front, the Centre Party refused to support a government that includes the Left Party.
The Speaker of Parliament has four attempts to propose a candidate for the office of prime minister; should none of them succeed, new elections will be necessary. The first attempt failed on October 15, when the leader of the Social Democratic Party, Magdalena Andersson, did not secure the necessary support from parliamentarians. The Speaker can also task candidates with verifying the conditions for a government without necessarily submitting their nomination to a parliamentary vote.
The Scandinavian country is now getting used to long negotiations for government formation: after the 2022 elections, it took 37 days to form an executive, while in 2018, 134 were needed.
