During the last term of office, the Stockholm Region was governed by the Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Center Party, which had a hanging agreement with the Left Party. Since the election, talks between the parties have been ongoing, but now it is clear that the Christian Democrats and the Liberals are finalizing negotiations with the Social Democrats, the Green Party and the Center Party.
This means that the Left Party is suspended from the cooperation and that a centrist government is on the table.
- It is a huge disappointment for us. Above all, I think it is a disappointment for the voters who had voted for more left-wing politics in Region Stockholm, says Anna Sehlin (V).
She continues:
- We are very disappointed that the Social Democrats and the MP would rather rule with right-wing parties that want to privatize hospitals and shut down the cultural administration that KD ran, than with us.
Other, happier voices are from the Christian Democratic side.
- We went to the election for another government with the Moderates and the Liberals as the core together with us. But various political deadlocks and red lines on the right and left have made that coalition impossible. After trying several different solutions, we have landed on this solution, says Carl-Johan Schiller (KD), opposition regional councillor.
According to information given to Svenska Dagbladet, which DN also received, KD has received a promise of great influence over health care. Carl-Johan Schiller does not want to comment on that information, but he says that healthcare is the most important area for the Christian Democrats and that he now wants to get through as much bourgeois and Christian Democratic policy as possible.
- It's not about me, but about policy. Since we are entering into negotiations now, the policy is the focus for us, he says.
Now he hopes that a collaboration with the Social Democrats and the Green Party will not affect the relationship with the Moderates.
- The Moderates are a party that is ideologically and politically very close to us. So it will continue to be. If we are in a leading position, we will have a slightly more constructive approach to the opposition than it has been before, says Carl-Johan Schiller.
If the negotiations go through, it also means that the Moderates, the region's second largest party, will be the only bourgeois party in opposition. The moderates advanced in the election.
- The moderates take very seriously the information that KD and L are considering making this left turn. KD and L went to the polls as an alternative to the Social Democrats. If these negotiations go through, the Moderates will become the region's only bourgeois party. It would be a historic betrayal of the voters who voted for the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, says Axel Conradi (M), opposition regional councillor.
Liberal opposition councilor Amelie Tarschys Ingre says that L has held talks in different directions, except with the fringe parties, since the election and that various doors have been closed.
- Now we have started talks with S, KD, L, C and MP, and there would be a government with three bourgeois parties. We think it would be good for Region Stockholm with a clear majority, says Amelie Tarschys Ingre.
DN has contacted the Social Democrats, who do not want to comment on the final negotiations.
