In recent days, Speaker Andreas Norlén has received criticism for being lazy. But on Thursday he pressed hard on the gas pedal. As early as three weeks from now, we could be facing the fateful fourth prime ministerial vote which - if it fails - automatically creates an additional election.
On Tuesday, center leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist will in all probability be voted down by the Riksdag and immediately after that Ulf Kristersson will have a week to sort out - the almost equally improbable - possibility of forming a new right-wing government.
The Center Party vigorously defends itself against the description that it is C that decides whether there will be by-elections or not. According to Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist, her party has already made all the moves that can be made to facilitate the formation of a government. Instead, she wants other parties to move along.
But politics is not about what you want, but about what is possible. The question is what can be accomplished within the frameworks that others have set up, frameworks that the own party cannot budge on.
In the current government formation, there are at least two circumstances that the Center is forced to deal with.
First, there is no majority for a middle option. On Tuesday, the Riksdag will record this fact in a voting protocol. As long as the Center does not want to cooperate with SD, there is only one basis for government - and that is S, V, C and MP.
Secondly, the Left Party stands firm in stopping all governments the party is not a part of. There are no signs of cracks in V, the party board and the Riksdag group are united and the overwhelming majority of the party congress has taken a binding decision.
Nooshi Dadgostar's line has also been rewarded by the voters. The party advanced the most in an election campaign where no one could miss Dadgostar's stance. After the election, it has been repeated daily. When the polling company Indikator asks the Left Party's voters how V handled the government question after the election, the answer is mostly positive. Everyone has heard the party's vice-chairman Ida Gabrielsson time and again rub in the message that "everyone should join".
Neither the Center nor the Social Democrats like V's stance, but are forced to deal with it. After all, for S it hurts less than a new election, saving government power comes first. In addition, V's opinion would not change in an additional election - on the contrary, such an election would be completely dominated by the government issue. The election would be between an M-led government with SD and an S-led government with V.
In such an election, the Center risks becoming irrelevant and falling outside the discussion. What should Thand Ringqvist go to the polls for? Giving in to V or SD would be a bit late. It remains to once again request the voters' support for a central government. But this time with wasted credibility.
There is much evidence that S and C need to find a retreat that saves everyone's face, a solution where the Center can show off political victories for its own party and at the same time point out that the Left Party has been forced to back down on sensitive issues. Dadgostar's party will have to accept a lot of humiliating concessions to get some seats in the government.
