Sweden hands third mandate to Centre Party leader to seek government

Sweden's parliament speaker, Andreas Norlén, has handed a third mandate to the leader of the Centre Party, Elisabet Tand Ringqvist, to explore whether a new government can be formed. Norlén gave her one week to consult potential coalition partners.

Mandate opens door to centrist coalition

Norlén said Tand Ringqvist will examine the possibility of building a centrist government but that it remains unclear who would serve as prime minister if talks succeed. He stressed that a variety of configurations are still being weighed.

“Various government options are under consideration, but, as far as I can say, no progress has been made in any of them,” Norlén told reporters.

The move follows parliamentary elections held on 13 September, when the left‑of‑centre opposition won a narrow majority of seats. The four parties of the so‑called red‑green left bloc, including the Centre Party, rallied behind Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson as their candidate for prime minister, but they failed to agree on the composition of a potential coalition.

On Thursday the Riksdag rejected Andersson’s bid to lead a minority government — the first of up to four prime ministerial proposals the speaker can bring to a vote. Andersson had previously said on 28 September that she could not form a cabinet after her first mandate, and a second attempt on 2 October also failed to win parliamentary support.

If members of parliament reject all four prime ministerial proposals the speaker may present, Sweden would move toward early elections; the last time the country faced that outcome was in 1958.

Photo: press material from the event