When SD leader Jimmie Åkesson made it clear last week that his party is ready to release Ulf Kristersson as prime minister, the game plan changed in the government issue.
The center party has announced a competition between S and M, where the one with the best "total package" wins. Then C leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist also wants the prime ministerial candidates to show how they can form a government that is not dependent on SD or V.
On Tuesday, Åkesson clarified that SD's support does not come for free, especially not when it comes to a budget.
- We have 17 percent of the votes, we will have influence one way or another, said the SD leader in SVT's Aktuellt on Tuesday.
The situation in the negotiations on the M side is described by DN's informant as very sensitive.
The moderates have no problem meeting the centrist parties in matters of policy, in matters important to C such as entrepreneurship and the view on taxes. The big obstacle is the parliamentary math, according to several moderate sources.
Christofer Fjellner (M), city councilor in Stockholm and member of the party board, emphasizes that M, C, KD and L are politically close to each other. Looking at the mandates, such a government must still seek support from other parties, also from the SD, which C so loathes.
- I don't see it as strange to try to govern with shifting majorities, says Fjellner.
The alternative of jumping majorities, i.e. support from different parties in the Riksdag on different issues, is a possibility raised by several moderates DN spoke to. Even if it would mean that the government rests on a fragile foundation.
- We have the math against us, but maybe still succeed better. S are so bad that we have to try to solve this in an unconventional way, says MUF leader Douglas Thor.
For his part, Christofer Fjellner emphasizes that he is not involved in any negotiations at the national level, but believes that Ulf Kristersson should take the opportunity to form a government even if it looks difficult with the Riksdag majority.
- You can cook according to the situation. I think you have that responsibility towards the voters. If it then proves impossible to govern, one can resign, form a new government or call a new election, says Fjellner.
After Åkesson's announcement, a number of bourgeois voices have already counted on a new M-led government. But during the week, the parliamentary difficulties have increased for more and more people on that side.
The initial excitement over the possibilities has died down, notes a moderate.
The negotiators are now trying to understand where the Centre's boundaries lie in relation to SD. According to several moderate informants, it will take time if there is to be an opportunity to persuade the center parties to change the prime ministerial candidate from Andersson to Kristersson.
An M source states that it is more difficult than it initially appeared, and likely not something that can be solved over the weekend. Perhaps it would even require a fourth prime ministerial vote.
Another M source believes that a bourgeois four-party government could get its budget through without first negotiating with SD.
The reasoning is based on SD's own budget proposal falling in an early vote in the Riksdag. In a final vote, the government's proposal is pitted against the proposal from a red-green opposition. Then the M source believes that the SD can choose the government's after all.
- The SD would have to answer to their voters why they don't support the least bad budget and instead pass a red-green budget with a lot of petrol tax increases, says the person.
During the week, Kristersson requested an extended probe period and has now been given until Tuesday next week. At the same time, S leader Magdalena Andersson claims that things are "moving" on her side. On Wednesday, the four-party talks between S, C, MP and V resumed.
