Centre Party leader Thand Ringqvist fails to become Sweden’s prime minister — Der Spiegel

Sweden’s parliament did not support the candidacy of Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist for the post of prime minister. This was the second unsuccessful attempt to elect a head of government after the parliamentary elections held on September 13.

Dispute in the centre-left bloc

As Der Spiegel reports, the Centre Party, part of the opposition centre-left bloc, won the election by a narrow margin. However, the bloc’s four parties — the Social Democrats, the Centre Party, the Left Party and the Greens — have still been unable to agree on a government that could secure a parliamentary majority.

One of the main disagreements is the Left Party’s demand to receive ministerial posts as a condition for participating in the government. This is unacceptable to the Centre Party. Earlier, Social Democrat Magdalena Andersson also made several unsuccessful attempts to unite the centre-left forces and failed to pass the vote on her candidacy for head of government.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Third attempt

The speaker of parliament may submit candidates for head of government to a vote by lawmakers up to four times. If the fourth attempt also fails, early elections must be called in the country.

Next, Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Coalition Party and prime minister of the right-wing government since 2022, will have an opportunity to form a cabinet. His vote will be the third of four possible attempts. In the new parliament, the centre-left bloc has 176 seats, while Kristersson’s previous alliance, including the Sweden Democrats, holds 173 seats. After the 2018 election, negotiations on forming a government in Sweden lasted 134 days.