Andersson receives an extension to try to form a new government in Sweden
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Sweden’s Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson said on Tuesday that she needs more time for government formation talks that can make her the country’s first female prime minister because discussions with one of the two support parties have come to a standstill.
After intensive talks with the small Left Party, Andersson asked the Speaker of the Riksdag Andreas Norlen for an extension and had until Monday to find sufficient support in the Riksdag to form a cabinet.
Andersson, the new leader of the Social Democratic Party, aims to secure the support of the two smaller parties that supported Stefan Lofven’s previous center-left minority government. The other ally, the Center Party, has already said that its legislators will abstain from voting against Andersson.
According to the Swedish constitution, prime ministers can govern as long as a parliamentary majority – at least 175 legislators – is not against them. The Social Democrats currently have 100 of the Riksdag’s 349 seats and the Greens have 16 seats. Together with their allies, they have a total of 174 seats.
The right of the Riksdag is divided. Ulf Kristersson, head of the opposition Moderaterna – Sweden’s second largest party – has repeatedly said that a center-right government is not feasible because no mainstream party wants to cooperate with the third largest Swedish party, the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, which has its roots in a neo-Nazi movement.
On Tuesday, Andersson declined to give details about the ongoing talks with the Left Party and said that “everything that is discussed in the negotiating room stays there.”
“It’s about being able to build trust,” she said.
“Sweden urgently needs a new government, but at the same time the work should not be accelerated,” Norlen said after the meeting with Andersson.
Lofven will continue to lead the Swedish government in administrative capacity until a new government is formed.
Sweden has a parliamentary election set for September 11, 2022.