Signal & Brus

🇸🇪 🇬🇧 🇪🇸

I do not think it is all over for Magda. On the contrary, a Social Democratic minority government could be a sensible solution for Sweden, provided that no one intends to abandon their red lines.

Today, 13 October, Magdalena Andersson announced that her exploratory talks still had not produced the conditions for a government that parliament could tolerate. At the same time, she is prepared to face a vote as prime minister for a purely Social Democratic government. It is an option that deserves more than a reflexive no.

The deadlock is familiar: the Left Party wants to be part of the government, while the Centre Party will not accept a government that includes the Left. The Centre Party has also previously identified Andersson as its most likely candidate for prime minister and rejected Kristersson, partly because of his promises of cabinet posts for the Sweden Democrats.

But parliament has one more button. Members can abstain.

If the outgoing government parties and the Sweden Democrats no longer believe they can persuade the Centre Party to change sides, they should abstain in a vote on Andersson. Let a purely Social Democratic government take office and allow parliamentary reality to test cooperation between the Centre and the left. If they believe that cooperation will not hold, there may be more to gain from letting it be tested than from blocking it from the outset. That is, of course, a political calculation—not a guarantee that the Centre Party will later move to the right.

If the red-green parties do not want to give Kristersson a chance, they too should abstain if they cannot vote yes. Voting Andersson down does not automatically make Kristersson prime minister. But it keeps the process open to other alternatives, including ones they themselves consider much worse.

It is impossible both to claim that keeping the Sweden Democrats out of government is crucial and, at the same time, to treat cabinet posts in one’s own government as more important than allowing a possible prime minister to take office.

Sweden uses negative parliamentarism. A candidate for prime minister does not need to secure a majority of yes votes. The proposal is defeated only if at least 175 members vote no. Abstaining therefore means that a party can tolerate the government without endorsing its policies.

A purely Social Democratic government would not solve everything. It would need to pass a budget and seek support for its proposals. The Centre Party, the Left Party and the Green Party could still make demands on individual policies. Tolerating Andersson would not mean that anyone has to join a government with a party they promised to keep out.

I previously wrote that there are no adults in the chamber. Here is an actual opportunity to act like adults: stand by political boundaries, but accept that Sweden needs a government even when no one gets exactly what they want.

Magda does not need everyone to love her government. Enough people merely need to realise that their alternatives are worse.

This translation was prepared with AI assistance. The original featured illustration was AI-generated.