Kristersson Gets His Chance—But Two Parties Could Block the Government

After two humiliating defeats for the left-wing and centrist parties, it is now Ulf Kristersson’s turn to try to form a government. But the Moderate Party leader himself admits that the outlook is bleak. Now, two parties hold the key to whether Sweden will head toward a special election.

The Moderate Party's party leader and outgoing prime minister Ulf Kristersson On Tuesday, he was tasked by the Speaker with exploring the possibilities of forming a new government. The message came after the Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist was voted down with 324 "no" votes. Kristersson has until November 10 to present the results.

Kristersson: Almost impossible

At the afternoon press conference following the announcement, Kristersson made no secret of the difficulties. He did not display much enthusiasm, which suggests that he does not have much confidence in succeeding. He wants to explore the possibility of forming a non-socialist government, but the distribution of seats remains unchanged, and the parties’ demands are far apart.

– If I had thought it was impossible, I would have turned down the assignment, said Kristersson.

When pressed on what specific factors suggest the experiment will succeed, he gave an unusually straightforward answer.

– Not very much, actually.

The C and SD parties could decide the outcome

According to Expressen's Editorial Page There is a possible solution: The Center Party (C) must accept a government that cooperates with the Sweden Democrats (SD), while the SD must drop its demand for ministerial posts. SVT’s political commentator Elisabeth Marmorstein However, I believe the SD will demand something else in return before agreeing to this.

However, on several occasions since the election on September 13, there have been multiple reports that the Sweden Democrats are prepared to give up ministerial posts without any conditions. There are also reports that the party leader Jimmie ÅkessonThe threat to nationalists to either fall in line with the party’s stance on ”open Swedishness” or leave the party is an attempt to appease C. However, the SD has dismissed these reports as ”incorrect.”.

The special election is drawing nearer

Editorial writer for Svenska Dagbladet Peter Wennblad assesses that a defeat for Kristersson in the third vote for prime minister will almost certainly lead to a special election. He believes that the Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats, and the Sweden Democrats would then prefer a new election to making further concessions.

Kristersson himself wants to avoid that outcome and promises serious negotiations this week. But if the fourth nomination for prime minister also fails, a special election must be held.