Mats Knutson: Lööf's message is of great importance

- This is an important message to the voters, says Mats Knutson in SVT's Aktuellt.

In an interview with Expressen, Annie Lööf says that the Center Party will not be part of a new, bourgeois government as long as the Moderates are prepared to negotiate a budget with the Sweden Democrats.

She also states that the party aims to become a government party again after the election next year and that one can imagine government partners both on the right and the left.

"We are prepared to sit in government with both Social Democrats and Moderates.

What guides us after the next election is about which center-right political areas we get through, how the other parties stand for cooperation with the fringes and the election result, "she said.

"Realistic alternative"

The Center Party has collaborated with the Social Democrats from time to time over the years, but the two parties have not been in the same government since the 1950s.

Instead, since the 1970s, the Center Party has chosen to govern bourgeois parties together.

- Therefore, this message is important, says Mats Knutson who adds that at the same time a government cooperation between the parties is quite logical as Annie Lööf was clear that she wants a center government that is not dependent on either the Left Party or the Sweden Democrats.

- Then a government collaboration with the Social Democrats will be a realistic alternative, he says.

New political landscape

Since the 2018 parliamentary election, the political landscape in Sweden has been redrawn, says Mats Knutson.

The Moderates and the Christian Democrats have approached the Sweden Democrats and the Liberals may be about to change sides and leave the jaunauria agreement.

- It is important for the Center Party to be clear in such a situation and send a signal to the voters that they do not want to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats.

But, says Mats Knutson, it can be difficult for the Center Party to form a government with the Social Democrats without support from the fringe parties as they will probably have between 25-30 percent of the electorate in the next election.

Annie Lööf must therefore ask herself if she can imagine cooperating with the Left Party.

- That is what determines whether such a government can come into being, he says.