Sweden's Magdalena Andersson Gets Second Chance to Form Government as Talks Resume
Speaker Andreas Norlén says the parliamentary arithmetic has not changed, and Andersson must report back by October 12
3 min read
File photo: Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm, December 2021. Photo: U.S. Department of State / Ron Przysucha, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson's second attempt to build a new Swedish government formally began on Monday, after parliament's Speaker, Andreas Norlén, once again handed her the exploratory mandate, The Local and Reuters reported.
Norlén announced on Friday, 2 October, that Andersson would again serve as sonderingsperson, the politician who sounds out other parties before a prime ministerial vote in the Riksdag.
"I have given Magdalena Andersson the task of resuming, from 5 October, the exploratory talks to form a government that can be tolerated by the Riksdag. Magdalena Andersson will report to me no later than 12 October," Norlén said in a statement published by the Riksdag. He added that a vote on a prime minister would take place in parliament once the assignment ends.
What happens next
According to The Local, on 12 October Andersson can either ask for more time for negotiations or submit a final report, in which case her candidacy will be put to a parliamentary vote within four days.
Why she stepped back
Andersson abandoned her first attempt on Monday, 28 September, after the Left Party decided to vote for the Moderate Party's candidate for Speaker, The Local reported.
Norlén said the dispute over the Speaker election had not changed the underlying parliamentary situation and that he still believed Andersson had the best chance of building a workable coalition. He rejected the idea that the role should now pass to Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson, as Andersson had suggested.
"I can state that the basic political and parliamentary conditions are exactly the same now as they were when Magdalena Andersson first received the assignment," Norlén said, according to The Local.
"It is the same distribution of mandates. It is the same parties that are naming her as their main candidate for prime minister and those parties continue to have a majority in the parliament. For this reason, it is reasonable that she should resume her exploratory work," he added.
"A sort of hiccup"
Norlén described Andersson's decision to hand back the role as "a sort of hiccup, a knot in the thread", treating the new mandate as a continuation of the first round rather than a new one. He said he and Andersson had agreed that the appointment should be followed by a parliamentary vote.
Andersson calls for constructive talks
In a statement on Facebook, Andersson said she welcomed the announcement.
"I will consider over the weekend how I can take the process forward. I hope that other parties will also consider their positions. The way forward requires that all political forces act constructively, and put the best interests of Sweden and the Swedish people first," she wrote, according to The Local.
