On November 5 the Speaker of parliament, Andreas Norlén, gave the leader of the Moderate party Ulf Kristersson one week to prepare for a parliamentary vote on Kristersson as new Prime Minister of Sweden. If his candidacy gets voted down by parliament, there may be three more votes before another election can be called. The move by the speaker is an effort to move the process forward and force the involved parties to compromises.

The leader of Sweden’s Social Democrats, Stefan Löfven, abandoned efforts to form a government on Oct. 29, extending a political deadlock that has gripped the country since an inconclusive national election seven weeks ago. “In light of the responses I have had so far ... the possibility does not exist for me to build a government that can be accepted by parliament,” Löfven told reporters.

The center-right Alliance bloc’s leader, Ulf Kristersson, has already tried and failed to form a government once. The second failed attempt, now by Löfven, brought the prospect of a snap election closer, though the speaker of parliament said he would try to avoid that at all costs.

After Löfven abandoned the second effort to form a government, the Parliament’s speaker has become more involved in breaking the political deadlock. The willingness to compromise has been “limited,” Speaker Andreas Norlén said at a press conference, but “A snap election would be a big defeat for the Swedish political system,” he told reporters.
Norlén will lead group talks in an attempt to form a grand coalition and explore other potential governments. There’s no set deadline for how long talks can take, but “We have to see a vote in parliament at some point. It could be the only thing that breaks the deadlock,” Norlén said.
An interim administration under Löfven has run Sweden since September’s election.