World

Swedish Centre Party leader Annie Lööf to announce result of exploratory government talks

Annie Lööf speaks to media earlier this week. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT

The leader of Sweden's Centre Party, Annie Lööf, will on Thursday announce the results of her talks with other party leaders a week after she was tasked with trying to break the political deadlock.

Lööf will meet with parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlén and is expected to either give up her attempt to form a workable government or ask for more time to reach a solution.

Over the past week, she is reported to have had several meetings with the Social Democrats and the Green Party, who together form a centre-left bloc and have led Sweden in a minority government for the past four years.

The September election left neither the centre-left nor the four-party centre-right Alliance — comprising the Moderates, Christian Democrats, Centre Party and Liberals — with a majority, and just one seat separates the two blocs. In the two and a half months since then, both the Social Democrats and Moderates have tried and failed to break the deadlock.

SWEDEN IN FOCUS: How did the political situation get to where it is today?

There is no set deadline by which Sweden must form a government, but the number of prime ministerial votes that can be held before a snap election is automatically called is capped at four.

Three of these chances remain after Moderates leader Ulf Kristersson was not accepted by parliament, due to the Centre Party and Liberals refusing to back a government that relied on support from the far-right Sweden Democrats. This means the country is now in untested waters — previously, parliament had always accepted the first candidate to be proposed.

Lööf cancelled a planned event on Wednesday and was also absent from parliamentary debates over several proposed law changes due to the ongoing talks.

FOR MEMBERS: Who's running the country? Your questions about the Swedish election

[contf]
[contfnew]

thelocal.eu

[contfnewc]
[contfnewc]

Related Articles

Back to top button