STOCKHOLM, Oct 19 (Reuters) – Sweden’s parliament speaker said on Monday he has asked Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist to explore the grounds for the formation of a new government, giving her one week to meet with other parties.
Last month’s election gave the centre-left a narrow majority in parliament, but while all four opposition parties favour Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister, they do not agree on who should be part of a new government.
Thand Ringqvist will now explore a centrist alternative, Riksdag Speaker Andreas Norlen told a press conference, while adding that it was not clear who would become prime minister if the talks succeed.
“Different government options are also under discussion, though none appears to be making any clear progress, as far as I can tell,” Norlen said.
Thand Ringqvist, whose party was fifth-biggest in the election, said she would invite all party leaders for talks.
“My ambition is to contribute to a solution to the matter of government, not to become prime minister myself,” she said in a post on X.
Lawmakers on Thursday rejected Andersson’s bid to form a minority cabinet, as widely expected, in the first of up to four votes before a fresh election must be called. Sweden last held an early election in 1958.
Thand Ringqvist has earlier raised the possibility of a “middle” government that would exclude both the Left Party and the far-right Sweden Democrats.
Norlen said she is due to report back to him on October 26 at the latest.
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Simon Johnson, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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