On Tuesday, Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist was voted down in the second prime ministerial vote since the election. The first to be voted down was Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson.
The task of trying to form a government has now gone to Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson.
According to Jonas Hinnfors, professor emeritus of political science, Kristersson is most likely trying to win the Center Party over and persuade the Sweden Democrats to drop their demand for ministerial posts.
Likely to fail
“It’s not impossible that the Center Party will give in and let Ulf Kristersson in. But it seems that door is closed,” he says.
Hinnfors therefore thinks Kristersson’s attempt will probably fail.
However, the fact that two prime ministerial votes have now taken place puts new pressure on the parties.
“When there are these deadlocks, the parties don’t want to give up too much. They watch out for each other and want to come out on top in any negotiations.
“It’s not until you start approaching the stumbling block of a snap election that the pressure to reach an agreement increases,” Hinnfors says.
He says the anxiety now beginning to build among the parties over the prospect of a snap election should not be underestimated, especially on the red-green side.
Putting pressure on the red-greens
Since the election, several polls have shown the Moderates doing well and confidence in Ulf Kristersson increasing.
“You shouldn’t rely too much on opinion polls; things could go either way. But given how the polls look now, they are certainly putting pressure on the red-greens, and especially the Social Democrats.
“The likelihood that things will start to move increases as we approach the third round,” Hinnfors says.
What do you think?