Left deputy challenges Centre leader to test her coalition route

Left Party deputy leader Ida Gabrielsson has urged Centre leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist to test her preferred coalition route, arguing that a failed attempt could force Centre to choose which side it supports.

In a Saturday statement, Gabrielsson said Centre could not count other parties’ parliamentary seats as negotiating strength unless they backed Magdalena Andersson as prime minister. The Left was prepared to compromise, she said, but would demand influence if its votes were needed.

Earlier on Saturday, Thand Ringqvist told TV4 that the parties’ red lines remained after Friday’s four-hour meeting of the Social Democrats, Left, Greens and Centre on Lidingö. They had not discussed government formation at that meeting, she said.

Centre opposes a government containing Left Party ministers. Thand Ringqvist said an extra election remained a realistic possibility, although she expected Sweden to find a solution without one.

Gabrielsson’s challenge does not change the Speaker’s assignment. Andersson holds the formal mandate to explore a government that parliament can tolerate and must report to Speaker Andreas Norlén by Monday, 12 October.

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