Follow-Up: Sweden's Speaker Asks Centre Party Leader to Explore Forming a Government by October 26 After Andersson's Bid Failed 248-99
Stockholm, Sweden — Sweden's parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlén on October 19 asked Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist to explore forming a government, giving her one week, until October 26, to report back. The centre-left bloc won a narrow majority in the September 13 general election.
Parliament had already rejected Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister on October 15 by 248 votes to 99, the first of up to four formation votes permitted before a fresh election must be called; Sweden's last early election was in 1958. Thand Ringqvist said her ambition is not to become prime minister herself but to contribute to a solution, and that she will invite all party leaders to talks.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson resigned on September 17 and leads a caretaker government. All four opposition parties favour Andersson as premier but disagree on the composition of a government, and the deadlock is expected to continue.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 瑞典议会大厦（斯德哥尔摩）。图：Arild Vågen，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / The Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) in Stockholm. Photo by Arild Vågen, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
