Sweden's Next Prime Minister: Parliament to Vote Tuesday on Centre Party Leader Thand Ringqvist
Swedish Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén announced on October 29 that parliament will vote next Tuesday on whether Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist should become prime minister, even though she abandoned her attempt to build a centrist coalition on Monday and said she did not have majority support.
Norlén said that if the vote fails, he will ask Moderate Party Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to try to form the next government. Under Sweden's constitutional process, parliament may hold up to four votes on a prime ministerial candidate; if all four fail, an early election must be called. Sweden last held a snap election in 1958.
In last month's general election, the left bloc won 176 of parliament's 349 seats. Four opposition parties jointly backed Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson for prime minister but never agreed on the composition of a government. On October 15, parliament rejected Andersson's bid to form a minority cabinet, the first of the possible four votes.
Recent polling has shown support rising for Kristersson's Moderates. Whether Thand Ringqvist clears Tuesday's vote will decide where the weeks-long deadlock over forming a government goes next.
Related: Swedish Parliament Rejects Andersson's Bid to Form Government, Extending Uncertainty
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 瑞典中间党领袖伊丽莎白·坦德·林奎斯特（2026年摄，资料图）。Swedish Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist (file photo, 2026). CC BY 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons / via Wikimedia Commons.
