We can lead the horse to water, but it is the horse that must drink.
This is what Social Democrat Anders Ygeman recently told Aftonbladet about the red lines in the government talks between the Center Party and the Left Party.
The situation was the same before the election, and even then, the Social Democrats did not say whether they would consider letting the Left Party join the government.
According to former Justice Minister Thomas Bodström, the reason is that the Social Democrats would have lost the election either way: distancing themselves from the Left Party would have risked a fierce attack from the Tidö parties over divisions on the left, while letting the party into government would have risked scaring off centrist voters.
Center Party leader: Would be good
The Social Democrat leadership has denied that its vague answers are a tactic. Instead, it says it does not want to draw more red lines.
But almost seven weeks after the election, frustration is growing within both the Center Party and the Left Party that the Social Democrats are still not giving an answer.
It would be good if the Social Democrats said what kind of government they want to see. Many people are asking, Center Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist said when she concluded her exploratory mission on Monday.
Many in the Center Party agree. A senior source says the Social Democrats must “speak out” because they are forming the government.
It is disrespectful to voters to let the Left Party and the Center Party fight a public battle while dodging responsibility themselves. It is time for the Social Democrats to send a clearer message, Emelie Rossheim, chairwoman of the Center Party Youth Union (Cuf), told Svenska Dagbladet.
Still in locked mode
There is also frustration with Magdalena Andersson within the Left Party. The party believes she should put her foot down. But that has not happened, not even in conversations between the party leaders, according to information provided to TT.
There is not the same frustration within the Green Party. However, it would like the talks between the red-green parties to have progressed further and the parties to have agreed on a joint budget by now.
There are many who feel that it is important that things happen, that things start to move forward, so that we can have a government, a senior source in the Green Party said.
