Speaker Puts Centre Party Leader Up for PM - Expected to Fail

STOCKHOLM - Sweden's parliament will vote next Tuesday on whether Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist should become prime minister. Almost nobody expects her to survive it.

Speaker Andreas Norlén announced the vote at a press conference on Thursday, only three days after Thand Ringqvist admitted there was no majority for the centrist government she had been trying to build. It will be the second prime ministerial vote since the September election. If it fails, Sweden moves one step closer to a snap election.

A Candidate Who Never Wanted the Job

Norlén thanked Thand Ringqvist for her exploratory talks, saying they had given a deeper understanding of the political situation. Then he surprised almost everyone by closing her mission with a vote in the chamber, with her as the candidate.

According to the Speaker, she has agreed to stand, even though she never set out to become prime minister. When she took on the mission on 19 October, she said she wanted to help solve the government question, not move into the prime minister's office herself.

Political commentators at public broadcaster SVT say she lacks the support to pass and see the vote mainly as the Speaker's way of turning up the pressure on the parties. Norlén has said since the election that he wants to pair talks with votes, a lesson from Sweden's drawn-out government crisis in 2018.

Both Moderate leader Ulf Kristersson and Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson have reportedly declined to be put forward this time. According to the Speaker, Kristersson will be handed the next exploratory mission.

Two Attempts Left Before New Elections

The Centre Party is still refusing to drop its red lines against both the Sweden Democrats and the Left Party, which leaves it with nowhere to go.

Under Swedish rules, a candidate is only rejected if at least 175 of the 349 members vote no, so a weak government can still get through if enough members abstain. The Speaker gets four attempts. If all four fail, a new election must be held within three months.

The first attempt came on 15 October, when Magdalena Andersson was voted down by 248 to 99. Only her own Social Democrats backed her, while the Centre Party, the Left Party and the Greens voted no together with the right-wing bloc.

The Social Democrats, Left Party, Greens and Centre Party together hold 176 seats, against 173 for the right-wing parties behind the previous government. The Centre Party has 25 seats. If Thand Ringqvist falls on Tuesday, the Speaker has only two attempts left before Swedes are sent back to the polls.