Swedish parliament votes against Social Democrats leader as PM, as expected

STOCKHOLM, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Sweden’s parliament on Thursday rejected Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson’s bid to form a minority government, as widely expected, extending a period of uncertainty over who will become prime minister after last month’s general election.

Four centre-left opposition parties, which have all said they favour Andersson as prime minister, on September 13 won a majority of seats in Sweden’s parliament, the Riksdag, but do not agree on who should be part of a new government.

• The opposition in September won 176 seats to 173 for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s right-wing bloc. Thursday’s ballot was the first of up to four votes before a new election must be called

• “It’s been clear to me since the election night that it will take some time and that several ballots would likely be necessary to appoint a prime minister,” Andersson told reporters after the vote in parliament

• Only the Social Democrats voted in favour of Andersson, while the other parties voted against

• The parliament speaker is widely expected to next ask Kristersson of the Moderates — the second-biggest party after the Social Democrats — to have a go at forming a government

• There is little indication so far that Kristersson would be able to secure a majority, and the task of government formation could thus revert to Andersson at a later time

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom and Simon Johnson, editing by Terje Solsvik)