Magdalena Andersson failed to secure approval for a left-wing majority, but she will face an investiture vote on Thursday

Swedish Social Democratic leader Magdalena Andersson announced on Tuesday that she had failed to reach an agreement to form a governing majority after negotiations with parties in the left-wing bloc. Despite the failure, Stockholm’s parliament will hold an investiture vote on Thursday.

Andersson said the negotiations had made progress, but that there were still insufficient conditions to form a government that could be accepted by the legislature. This is the Social Democratic leader’s second unsuccessful attempt to secure the parliamentary support needed.

The deadlock is caused by the incompatible positions of the Centre Party and the Left Party. The Centre Party has announced that it will not support an executive that includes the Left Party, while the latter has made its confidence conditional on participating in the government.

Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén confirmed that the vote will take place on Thursday, although he acknowledged that Andersson has little chance of passing it. The centre-left bloc won 176 seats in the September election, compared with 173 for the right-wing bloc led by interim Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. If Andersson fails, Kristersson could receive the next mandate to form a government. Sweden has faced difficult negotiations before: forming a government took 37 days after the 2022 election and 134 days after the 2018 vote.