Speaker may force vote to break government formation deadlock

Sweden’s parliamentary speaker may set a date for a prime ministerial vote to break the deadlock in government formation, SVT political commentator Mats Knutson writes in an analysis. After Wednesday’s talks with party leaders, the speaker said he had no decision yet on how the process would proceed.

The speaker said he would continue informal talks with the parties and provide an update later in the week. But Wednesday’s round did not appear to shift their positions: no candidate is currently willing to face a vote.

The parties backing Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson hold 173 seats, leaving him without enough support to win. Magdalena Andersson’s side has 176 seats, a majority, but divisions between the Left Party and the Centre Party, as well as between the Social Democrats and the Left Party, may prevent her from securing the backing she needs.

The dispute has deepened in recent days. The Centre Party and the Left Party have incompatible demands, while tensions between the Social Democrats and the Left Party have also spilled into public. The Left Party’s decision to support a Moderate speaker led Social Democratic leader Andersson to return her assignment to explore forming a government.

Andersson and the other red-green party leaders say Kristersson should be given the exploratory assignment. The parties in the Tidö alliance, meanwhile, say Andersson should receive it again.

Both candidates appear reluctant to face the first prime ministerial vote, knowing they would probably lose, Knutson writes. If the speaker sets a vote date, pressure on the parties to compromise or abandon their red lines would increase: after four failed prime ministerial votes, Sweden would hold an early election.

Knutson is SVT’s domestic political commentator. The article is an analysis, and its conclusions are his own.