Centre Party leader says centrist government lacks support

Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist says there is currently no parliamentary support for a centrist government, despite a majority in Sweden’s parliament for centrist policies, SVT reports. She has completed her exploratory talks and presented her conclusions to Speaker Andreas Norlén.

Thand Ringqvist described the talks with other parties as open and constructive, but said political deadlock remains. The centrist option she supports may have to be set aside for now, she said, adding that there is also no majority for a shift to the left.

The Centre Party will not change its red lines against the Left Party and the Sweden Democrats joining a government, Thand Ringqvist said. She argued that other parties need to reconsider their own positions to make it possible to form a government.

Asked whether she would prefer a snap election to compromising on the Centre Party’s red lines, she said her party had shown considerable flexibility. It had been prepared to let a Social Democratic one-party government take office, she said, but the proposal was blocked by the Left Party and the Green Party.

SVT political commentator Elisabeth Marmorstein said Thand Ringqvist still appeared to be hoping for a centrist government. She suggested the Centre Party leader was counting on the Liberals becoming so concerned about a snap election that they would support Magdalena Andersson in a fourth parliamentary vote. Marmorstein said she considered that outcome extremely unlikely.

Liberal leader Simona Mohamsson wrote on X that her party leader was Ulf Kristersson. She also criticised the Social Democrats’ policies, saying they would drive business owners, the middle class and rural commuters away. Thand Ringqvist told SVT it would be helpful for the Social Democrats to state what kind of government they want, saying many people were asking where the party stood.