Swedish parties mull grand coalition as deadlock weighs
Sweden’s political deadlock is starting to loosen.
As formal talks enter a second week, Center Party leader Annie Lööf on Tuesday let it slip that she’s thinking about alternatives, should her first preference for a center-right Alliance government prove impossible.
“An Alliance government is our main focus,” she said after meeting with speaker Andreas Norlen. “If that doesn’t work there are many different possible solutions between the blocs. Even if I don’t think a grand coalition is the best alternative, it shouldn’t be excluded in a complicated parliamentary situation.’’
Such a grand coalition could include “one or more” of the Alliance parties and the Social Democrats, she said.
That will be welcome news for acting Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, who has been staking his claim on continued power in peeling off Lööf’s Center Party from the four-party Alliance. His red-green coalition would have a majority with the Center Party. Still, Lööf has said she won’t cooperate with the former communist Left Party, a key Löfven ally.
Her comments offer the first sliver of daylight in the political impasse created by the election three weeks ago. The vote saw Löfven’s Social Democratic-led bloc winning 144 seats to the opposition’s 143 seats, leaving both without a majority.
The nationalist Sweden Democrats emerged with 62 seats, effectively blocking any path to power. But the establishment parties have so far refused to work with the Sweden Democrats because of its neo-Nazi roots.
At: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-02/swedish-center-party-hints-at-grand-coalition-as-deadlock-weighs
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven makes a point to centrist alliance leader Ulf Kristersson (Moderate), Annie Lööf (Center), and Jan Björklund (Liberal) in Parliament.
Sweden's elections on September 9 resulted in deadlock, leading to grand coalition talks between Löfven's Social Democratic-led alliance (144 seats) and the Moderate Party-led opposition (143).
The grand coalition would be viable even without the 31 seats in Lööf's right-leaning Center Party, the most averse to the idea.
The neo-Nazi Swedish Democrats joined the opposition in a no-confidence vote against Löfven on September 25; but have been excluded from any possible future government.
