Åkesson Drops Cabinet Demand - Will Tolerate Kristersson Then Oppose

SWEDEN - The Sweden Democrats are prepared to let Ulf Kristersson become prime minister without joining the cabinet - then go into full opposition. At a press conference in Sölvesborg, party leader Jimmie Åkesson also said he wants to shed the right-wing brand Tidö cooperation gave SD and reclaim what he calls the party's true mid-ground role.

After nearly two months and two failed prime minister votes, Åkesson opened the door to tolerating a four-party centre-right government under Kristersson. That means dropping the demand for SD ministers as a condition for letting a centre-right government take office.

A new Tidö deal is not part of the package he now describes. SD would stay free to negotiate issue by issue and run opposition politics.

"The Sweden Democrats do not basically belong to either of the traditional blocs in Swedish politics. We have no red lines against cooperating with any party in Sweden's parliament. We can cooperate in both directions," Åkesson said.

Dropping the Tidö right-wing profile

The move is not only about ending the government deadlock. Åkesson tied it to how voters saw SD after four years as a support party to the Moderates, Christian Democrats and Liberals.

For the first time the party lost ground in a parliamentary election. On the campaign trail, he said, some voters treated SD as just another Tidö centre-right party. Differences between the partners had blurred.

"This cooperation with a centre-right government has given us a very clear right-wing profile," he said - above all on economic policy, redistribution and welfare. That, he argued, is not who SD wants to be long term.

"And that is not the profile the Sweden Democrats want in the long run. That simply is not the Sweden Democrats."

A spell outside organised government cooperation would, in his view, let SD show itself again as a mid-party that can work broadly and put Sweden and Swedish citizens first.

Two messages to Kristersson

Åkesson still defends the earlier line that SD would either enter government or go into opposition after the election. Being the largest party in the previous governing base, he said, left SD carrying political blame for decisions it had not controlled - while voters largely treated it as part of the government anyway.

He does not want SD stuck forever as a support party. "We have been clear that we do not intend to end up in this support-party trap that has kept the Left Party out of every government for more than a hundred years. We will not end up there."

In a meeting with Kristersson during the exploratory talks, Åkesson delivered two messages. First: SD can still join a government that includes or leans on the Centre Party - there is no red line against C from SD's side. Second: if Centre blocks that path, SD is ready to tolerate Kristersson as prime minister of a four-party centre-right cabinet and then go into full opposition.

"That means tolerating Ulf Kristersson by abstaining in a prime minister vote and then letting the government-former take responsibility for his government. You're on your own, so to speak."

Centre still the blocker

Åkesson does not expect Centre to accept SD in government. Abstaining would let Kristersson through. SD would not be bound by advance deals, but could strike bargains where its policies can pass - and take responsibility only for those deals.

He sees better odds of influencing a centre-right government than a Social Democrat-led one, and wants the Greens and the Left Party kept out. At the same time he warns that a centre-right cabinet without SD and without a Tidö deal would be weaker than the last one.

Ulf Kristersson welcomed the signal. "The Sweden Democrats' responsible message is welcome and may possibly make what was very difficult somewhat less difficult. The talks continue," he told SVT.

For the four-party option to work, Centre still has to join a centre-right solution. The party has so far backed Magdalena Andersson for prime minister. Åkesson called on Centre leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist to say whether she will enter a centre-right minority government that can negotiate broadly in parliament.

"More parties need to take responsibility. The Centre Party in particular must show its colours in this situation."

Åkesson would have preferred a snap election. He does not expect one. SD is therefore preparing for a term in opposition - aiming both to shape policy and to reclaim its own profile.