Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist has told the speaker of Sweden's Riksdag that there is no support for a middle government made up of the Social Democrats, the Green Party, the Center Party, the Liberals and the Christian Democrats. She reached the conclusion after speaking with every party leader, and said the option isn't possible at least for now, according to SVT, Aftonbladet, Expressen and Svenska Dagbladet.
The announcement came on Monday, 43 days after the election. Thand Ringqvist said the red lines against the Left Party remain and that the Social Democrats should now say which parties they want to govern with. "Many people are asking which government they actually want to see," she said.
Social Democrat Anders Ygeman rejected the demand. "This is the wrong situation to draw up new red lines and write new wish lists," he said. He said his party is ready to cooperate with all parties except the Sweden Democrats, which means seven of the eight parties in the Riksdag.
"If we exclude and reduce the alternatives, we risk making it harder to form a government, not easier," he said.
Ygeman wants Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson to be given the speaker's exploratory assignment. "It could rule out one more government alternative and move the matter one step forward," Ygeman said. He said bilateral talks between the red-green parties have continued at various levels during the Center Party's exploration, and that those parties have come closer to each other during the autumn, including through joint political initiatives in the Riksdag.
The central blockage remains that the Left Party demands a seat in government and the Center Party refuses to govern with the Left. "We can lead the horse to water, but the horse must drink the water," Ygeman said, adding that both parties must modify the positions they took during the election campaign.
Magdalena Andersson was voted down in a prime ministerial vote on 15 October, when every party except the Social Democrats voted no. The red-green parties won the election with 176 mandates against 173 for the Tidö parties.