It has been a week since Magdalena Andersson was tasked by the Speaker to try to put together a government document. At that time, the S-leader's big challenge was to even get a joint meeting at party leader level. Something that has not yet happened, according to DN's sources with insight into the negotiations.
Then came the news of suspected election fraud in Borlänge with connections to the Left Party's candidate Mohamed Abdukardir Ali.
Nooshi Dadgostar took almost three days to comment on the suspicions. At the same time, deputy party leader Ida Gabrielsson went silent on social media, where during the election campaign she persistently pushed the Left Party's demand to be in government in the event of a red-green win.
Now the V management is criticized for its crisis management by several people in the intended cooperation parties and is accused of not having taken the problems seriously.
- We are probably the Left Party's only friend, but it has not become easier to be that friend, says an MP source.
The criticism in the Green Party refers to the problems with V's lists, anti-Semitism and craze for terrorist groups. Something that several S-sources repeatedly take up. The Center Party, which rules out sharing ministerial posts with V, has, according to DN's sources, strengthened its opinion. Both the suspected electoral fraud and the V management's handling characterize the analysis.
In the shadow of the V crisis, the pressure on Andersson's probe mission is increasing. In the middle of the week, the S leader announced that she has held talks with several of the party leaders, but did not want to go into which ones.
The Left Party has demanded to start with the question of form itself, government participation, while S and MP believe that it is best to set out policy areas first, where the parties agree. A joint project could be the climate issue and the green transition. However, the Center Party does not want to sit down to joint negotiations if V ministers are still on the table.
The Social Democrats' party secretary Tobias Baudin repeated on Thursday that the suspicions of electoral fraud are serious and that V must get to the bottom of what happened.
Is it possible to start government negotiations in this situation?
- I have nothing to report about the conversations that are being held, he says.
Tobias Baudin focuses on Sweden getting a social democratic prime minister.
- And we will succeed in that. It will take some time and it will be hard.
The road there now looks more complicated than ever. The police investigation into suspected election fraud in Borlänge has complicated an already strained negotiation situation.
Several sources at different levels in S, MP and C mention in particular that V's deputy party leader Ida Gabrielsson's actions in public have created unnecessary friction between the opposition parties.
Gabrielsson belongs to the left-wing leader Nooshi Dadgostar's inner circle and has great influence in the party. As an economic and political spokesperson, she is also included in the limited circle that is expected to have a central role in the government negotiations.
The friction began already during the election campaign when Ida Gabrielsson consolidated the Left Party's demand to sit in an S-led government in social media.
Both in S and MP there is dissatisfaction with the way the V-top has expressed itself even after the election. In a conversation with DN, a heavy S source questions how long Dadgostar will let Gabrielsson continue in the same way.
In the Green Party, there is concern that the Left's continued campaigning after the election has made it even more difficult to get the Center to the negotiating table.
At the same time, a central V source testifies to internal irritation after the Social Democrats' attacks and open criticism directed at the Left Party at the end of the election campaign. The V leadership shows no signs of backing down on the government issue, but says it is ready for by-elections if the demand for V ministers is not met.
In the party, there are still thoughts of a possible compromise: a solution similar to the Tidö agreement, according to a V source with many years at the top of the party. The rationale is that the Left Party would get civil servants in the Government Office, and a representative in the Coordination Office with the same rank as the government parties' state secretaries.
Press conferences about issues included in the collaboration would then be held jointly by all parties involved, even with the Left Party represented at the podium, the source believes.
Even such a solution would be a historic advance for the Left Party. The party has not come this close to government power since its formation in 1917.
- There would be great understanding in the party if the party leadership finally made a compromise, says another V source at the grassroots level.
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