In a social media post on Thursday, Social Democratic Party (S) leader Magdalena Andersson lashed out at Left Party (V) deputy leader Ida Gabrielsson.
The reason was comments Gabrielsson had made to DN about, among other things, the Centre Party and its economic policy spokesperson, Martin Ådahl.
“Parties you want to cooperate with should not be spoken about that way,” Andersson wrote, among other things. Gabrielsson later apologised.
Keeping the Centre Party in a good mood
Ulf Bjereld, a political science professor at the University of Gothenburg and a Social Democrat himself, called Andersson’s post startling.
Here, Magdalena Andersson is intervening in the Left Party’s internal processes, he says.
He believes Andersson’s defence of the Centre Party may stem from a fear that the party will move to the right after all.
The aim is to keep the Centre Party in a good mood, but also to send a signal to the Left Party to behave.
You must make sure you don't cause us any trouble, as you are doing with this language, says Bjereld.
At the same time, both the Left Party and the Centre Party have criticised Andersson for not being clear about which government she would prefer to see.
"Biggest failure"
Bjereld believes the silence on the issue stems from a desire not to disrupt internal processes in the other parties.
If it were the case that (Elisabeth) Thand Ringqvist and Dadgostar were considering compromising, we wouldn't want to make it more difficult, he says.
Bjereld believes there is concern within the Social Democrats that the Left Party will take the government issue “all the way to the hilt” - that is, allow it to lead to a snap election if the party is not allowed to join a government.
There is drama in the situation. If the opposition fails to reach an agreement and there is a snap election, it will be the biggest political failure in modern Swedish history.
Therefore, I do not think there will be a snap election, because there is too much to lose for all four parties, he says.
What do you think?