Sweden’s Centre Party leader tasked with exploring government formation

Sweden's parliamentary speaker on Monday tasked Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist with exploring the formation of a centrist government amid a prolonged post-election deadlock.

Speaker Andreas Norlen said Ringqvist would examine whether a government built around the political center could secure sufficient parliamentary support, Swedish daily Goteborgs-Posten reported.

"It is quite reasonable that she now has the opportunity to get to the bottom of the so-called middle option," Norlen said.

Ringqvist must report back to the speaker by Oct. 26.

"My ambition is to contribute to a solution to the government issue, not to become prime minister myself," she said.

The Centre Party's proposal envisages a coalition comprising the Social Democrats, Greens, Centre Party, Christian Democrats and Liberals, led by Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson.

None of the other parties included in the proposal has expressed enthusiasm for the arrangement, according to the newspaper.

The move followed parliament's rejection of Andersson as prime minister on Thursday in the first such vote since the election.

Norlen left open the possibility of nominating Andersson again for the next parliamentary vote, for which no date has been set.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the speaker's decision as logical, noting that parties supporting Andersson held 176 seats, a parliamentary majority.

Kristersson said those parties should exhaust their options for forming a government.

Negotiations remain complicated by disagreements between the Centre Party and the Left Party, according to the report.

Norlen urged all parties to continue negotiations, regardless of whether they had received a formal mandate to explore government formation.