FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6.
At lunchtime on Gustaf Adolfsdagen, SD leader Jimmie Åkesson stands in front of visiting journalists in his hometown of Sölvesborg. There is a circus going on in Swedish politics, he says, scolds Magdalena Andersson, and then announces that his party no longer requires ministerial posts to launch a new government.
- The Sweden Democrats are prepared to tolerate Ulf Kristersson as prime minister in a bourgeois four-party government, asserts Åkesson.
SD will become an opposition party. Jimmie Åkesson thus presses the start button for a very turbulent week in Swedish politics.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is well-informed about the SD's turnaround, he has the speaker's probe task right now, and is quick to come up with a written comment: "It could possibly make what was very difficult somewhat less difficult".
Åkesson has also informed Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist (C) in advance, but she has not had time to read his SMS and receives the news directly from Sölvesborg like everyone else, she tells the media on site in the Riksdag house.
When the officials in the administration usually start packing up for the weekend, the C leader stands in the press center and requests a total political package from both Ulf Kristersson and Magdalena Andersson for C to take a position on.
Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist originally intended to present the demand a few days later in order to speed up the government negotiations. Åkesson's announcement changes the game plan.
Ulf Kristersson also calls a press conference with short notice. Suddenly he too is a prime ministerial candidate for C, not just Magdalena Andersson - who has been Thand Ringqvist's mantra throughout the election campaign.
The mood rises considerably among the moderates. They are starting to get the hang of government power. With S, the corners of the mouth turn down and the steps are heavy on the way home.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8.
For political geeks, SVT's Agenda is the highlight of usually rather sleepy Sundays. Magdalena Andersson changes that when she unexpectedly calls a press conference and announces that she wants to govern with C and MP. Not with V.
She also says that S will not cooperate with a bourgeois government and that if C chooses a government that rests on the support of SD, it would be "the biggest betrayal in modern political history".
- It was the best we could do at the time. We wanted to set the agenda, says an S source.
Ahead of the coming working week, no one should doubt where S stands. The center is happy that S has finally put his foot down in the government issue. The pressure on the Left Party to give up ministerial posts is increasing.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10.
The Association of Parliamentary Journalists regularly invites top politicians to so-called coffee meetings. On Tuesday, it is Jimmie Åkesson's turn to sit down in front of inquisitive reporters.
If friends of the alliance have expected SD to kindly release a bourgeois budget, they will be disappointed when they read the report from the coffee meeting. In Current affairs later in the evening, Åkesson is clear.
- We have 17 percent of the votes, we will have influence one way or another, he says.
And it is precisely SD influence that C opposes.
On Tuesdays, the political parties also have their group meetings, when members of parliament from all over the country come to Stockholm. Ahead of the Social Democrats' meeting, Magdalena Andersson says that she has been in contact with the Speaker and requested a new exploratory mission to form a government.
She also wants the speaker to postpone a proposed prime ministerial vote on Ulf Kristersson. The justification is that time is needed for reflection.
- My assessment is that things are moving now and you shouldn't make decisions in a panic, she says.
From Centrehåll, they think it is time to resume the four-party talks, meaning that V is also involved in discussing policy.
WEDNESDAY 11 NOVEMBER.
The party leaders of the four red-green parties have met several times in recent weeks. A meeting on Wednesday in the Tändstickspalatset in central Stockholm will be public.
Now the Left Party is back in the talks, after a two-day boycott. Among others, party leader Nooshi Dadgostar and economic policy spokesperson Ida Gabrielsson participate in various meeting constellations.
- We are here to listen to the new arrangement that the Center Party has. We had a different plan until last week, but the Center Party chose to change its direction, says Nooshi Dadgostar to the reporters huddled outside the conference room in the November cold.
The parties also talk policy, according to DN's sources. Among other things, the agenda states that the Employment Service is fundamentally changed, that teenage deportations are stopped, that the waiting period is abolished and that the age of criminal liability is raised to 15 years.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12.
On Thursday, relations deteriorate again. Now it is the Left Party that is calling for a press conference.
Nooshi Dadgostar and Ida Gabrielsson repeat that V demands ministerial positions. In addition, they announce that the party will not participate in more S-led four-party talks. The Left Party wants the Center Party to first announce which prime ministerial candidate it supports.
The center party counters that V must provide information on the government issue no later than 5 pm on Friday. Does the party require ministers or do they want to gain political influence?
The moderates who move outside the plenary hall, where Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson (M) is debating the budget, look at their mobile phones and note with satisfaction that the betting companies believe that Ulf Kristersson will be Sweden's next prime minister.
Kristersson himself is in Dublin for the EU meeting. He has had "very good talks" with the other bourgeois party leaders ahead of Friday's package delivery to the Center Party. From that side of politics, the leaks to the media have been minimal.
FRIDAY 13 NOVEMBER.
The day of fate. The minute of truth for the Center Party. Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist each receives an offer from the Moderates and the Social Democrats.
"We will now go through the proposals carefully in our internal decision-making processes. Our focus is for Sweden to have an effective government that can take responsibility, implement important reforms and limit the influence of the extremes over Swedish politics," writes Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist.
