Sweden’s Centre Party (Centerpartiet) leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist will face a parliamentary vote to become prime minister on Tuesday 3 November, despite having said she did not intend to take the job. Speaker of Parliament Andreas Norlén announced the decision on Thursday 29 October as he seeks to move Sweden’s stalled government negotiations forward.
The Riksdag will vote at 13:00 on Tuesday, according to the official parliamentary announcement. Her nomination will first be presented on Friday 30 October, then tabled a second time on Monday 2 November.
A vote on the Centre Party’s abandoned government proposal
Thand Ringqvist spent last week exploring a coalition across Sweden’s political centre, but reported on 26 October that she had found no parliamentary support for it. She had envisaged a government involving the Social Democrats (Socialdemokraterna), Green Party (Miljöpartiet), Centre Party, Christian Democrats (Kristdemokraterna) and Liberals (Liberalerna), with Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister.
Norlén has now decided to put the Centre Party leader herself forward as the candidate for that five-party government. Although Thand Ringqvist had previously said she did not want to become prime minister, she confirmed to SVT that she had accepted the nomination to contribute constructively to the process.
The proposal has not gained the backing of the Liberals or Christian Democrats, whose leaders continue to support outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of the Moderate Party (Moderaterna).
Norlén wants the vote to increase pressure
The Speaker said he wanted to maintain momentum in the negotiations by following exploratory talks with a parliamentary vote. He also acknowledged that bringing the parties closer to the constitutional limit of four unsuccessful votes would increase pressure to reach a compromise.
As SVT reported from his press conference, Norlén explained:
“By holding a prime ministerial vote, we move closer to an extraordinary election, and that increases the pressure on all the parties involved.”
Tuesday’s vote will be the second since the election on 13 September. The first, on 15 October, ended with the Riksdag rejecting Andersson’s proposed single-party government by 248 votes to 99.
Andersson and the Greens object to the decision
The announcement drew criticism from parties that had wanted the next exploratory mandate to go to Kristersson instead.
Magdalena Andersson called the decision remarkable, arguing that Thand Ringqvist had never explored forming a government with herself as prime minister and that several parties opposed joining the proposed coalition. Green Party co-leader Amanda Lind said the vote risked delaying government formation further.
Thand Ringqvist accepted the Speaker’s decision but said she would have preferred either another nomination of Andersson or an opportunity for Kristersson to explore a government. People within the Centre Party also expressed dissatisfaction to SVT.
Left Party (Vänsterpartiet) leader Nooshi Dadgostar took a different view. She said a parliamentary vote could provide a clear conclusion to the Centre Party’s centrist alternative, allowing negotiations to move to another option.
Kristersson would take the next turn if she is rejected
Norlén has announced that if the Riksdag rejects Thand Ringqvist, Kristersson will receive the next exploratory mandate from 3 to 10 November. Kristersson currently leads Sweden’s caretaker government.
That would not automatically mean another vote immediately after 10 November. The Speaker said he would be cautious about using the third attempt and could first consult the red-green parties to see whether their negotiations had made progress.
Under Sweden’s government formation rules, a candidate is rejected if at least 175 of the Riksdag’s 349 MPs vote against. If four proposed prime ministers are rejected, an extraordinary election must be held within three months.
The vote on 3 November will therefore test an arrangement whose political obstacles are already known, while determining whether the next phase of negotiations begins with Kristersson.
