Sweden’s Centre Party said Monday it would vote against Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven’s return as prime minister, leaving the country no closer to ending a months-long political stalemate.
Centre Party leader Annie Lööf said Löfven was unwilling to back several of her party’s key demands, such as lower taxes and more liberal labor laws.
“We would have needed to see considerably more liberal political reforms in order for the Centre Party to be able to come to an agreement and allow Stefan Löfven four more years,” Reuters reported Lööf as telling reporters.
Sweden has been without a government since the September 9 election, and a hung parliament voted Löfven out as prime minister after four years in office, although he remained in the role in a caretaker capacity. It then also rejected the candidacy of the leader of the four-party center-right Alliance, which includes the Centre Party.
With no signs of compromise, it’s unclear what happens next. If parliament rejects four prime ministerial candidates, there will have to be a fresh election.