Sweden's election winner Andersson starts second attempt to form a government

Sweden's election winner Magdalena Andersson is to make a second attempt in the struggle to form a government. The head of the Social Democrats was again entrusted with this task by Parliament President Andreas Norlen, even though she had declared it impossible to form a government at the beginning of the week due to a lack of support.

Andersson's center-left camp narrowly won the election on September 13th. However, the four parties in her bloc disagree over who should be involved in a new government.

Norlen refers to the distribution of seats

In his new assignment, Norlen now referred to the distribution of seats in Andersson's favor. After the election, their alliance has 176 representatives, while the right-wing alliance of incumbent Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson only has 173 seats.

He further stated that the political and parliamentary conditions remained unchanged. It is therefore sensible for Andersson to resume her exploratory talks. There is a need for a signal of reflection and re-examination, says Norlen.

Andersson, who has already served as prime minister, must report to Norlen by October 12th. The new talks are scheduled to begin on Monday.

Chances for Kristersson are also slim

Andersson initially gave up after the Left Party supported a candidate from Kristersson's conservative Moderate Coalition Party for the office of parliamentary speaker. This undermined their efforts to form a center-left government, Andersson said. She takes the message of the Left Party seriously. Because of this and because of her first exploratory talks, she has come to the conclusion that she lacks the opportunity to form a government, Andersson said on Monday.

After the first failed attempt, Kristersson was considered a candidate to form a government. So far, however, there is little sign that it will face fewer obstacles. Ultimately, he would have to win the support of at least one center-left party while retaining the support of the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats.