Opposition leads polls but faces coalition red lines

The opposition leads the governing Tidö parties by 10 percentage points in SVT and Verian’s latest opinion poll, but SVT reports that divisions within the opposition could make it difficult for Magdalena Andersson to form a government.

“She could be facing the longest autumn of her life,” Mats Knutson, SVT’s domestic political commentator, said.

The disagreements are particularly clear between the Centre Party and the Left Party. The Left Party is demanding ministerial posts in a government led by the Social Democrats and says it will vote against any government formation that does not include it, including a red-green government.

Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar told TV4 that the party would not bring down Magdalena Andersson. However, after SVT contacted the party, it said its position on the government question had not changed.

The Centre Party, meanwhile, wants a centrist government made up of the Social Democrats, Centre Party, Green Party and Christian Democrats. It has drawn a red line against the Left Party joining the government.

Left Party deputy leader Ida Gabrielsson called the Centre Party’s position “silly”.

“That is not how you can work. You cannot hand out red lines to other parties,” she said.

Knutson said the parties appeared to face an “impossible equation” and warned that changing their positions could trigger major accusations of betrayal.

The government question is not the only major issue. The Social Democrats want to build new nuclear power, while the Green Party opposes it. The Green Party also wants a more generous migration policy, while the Social Democrats promise that migration will remain restrictive.