Andersson Ends First Attempt to Form Swedish Government

Magdalena Andersson ended her first attempt to form Sweden’s next government on Monday, returning her assignment to Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén after concluding she could not secure enough support. Her decision leaves caretaker Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson as a possible next candidate to try to form a government, though no new assignment or agreement has been confirmed. The impasse follows the September 13 election, in which the four-party center-left bloc won 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament, compared with 173 for the right-wing bloc. The narrow majority did not translate into an agreed governing arrangement. The Centre Party opposes a government that includes the Left Party, while the Left Party has sought a place in government. The dispute sharpened on Monday when the Left Party supported the reelection of Moderate Party member Andreas Norlén as speaker, rather than the Social Democrats’ candidate. Andersson said she had lost the support needed to form a government and returned the mandate Norlén had given her to explore one.