Sweden's Social Democrats

By Christoph Meyer and Julia Wäschenbach
dpa
(TNS)

Stockholm (dpa) — Talks led by Sweden’s Social Democrats on forming a government have failed amid a dispute within the centre-left bloc, party leader Magdalena Andersson said at a press conference on Monday, some two weeks after the Social Democrats came out on top in national elections.

The party was given the mandate to form a government after garnering 28% of the vote on September 13.

The four opposition parties that had announced their support for Andersson as prime minister together secured a narrow majority of 176 of the 349 seats. These included the Social Democrats, the Greens, the liberal Centre Party and the Left Party.

The conservative camp, made up of the outgoing three-party government and the right-wing populists, fell short of a majority with 173 seats.

However, the path to forming a government was always going to be rocky for Andersson, a former prime minister, amid deep-running animosities between the Left Party and the Centre Party, with neither wanting the other faction to enter government.

After the Left Party announced it would back the re-election of Andreas Norlén, from the rival conservative Moderate Party, as parliamentary speaker, Andersson said on Monday the party was now part of a different bloc, which should be given the mandate to form a government.

Norlén was re-elected with 200 to 146 votes on Monday afternoon, defeating Social Democrat Johanna Haraldsson, news agency TT reported.

Nooshi Dadgostar, leader of the Left Party, rejected Andersson’s characterization of the dispute, reportedly explaining that she was seeking an experienced politician to be speaker.

The breakdown of the centre-left talks means the road to a new government is wide open again.

Speaker Norlén must re-assign the mandate to form a government, with Ulf Kristersson, the conservative former prime minister who submitted his resignation following his defeat in the election, potentially to receive another chance.