On Monday, the government, C, V and MP reached a joint compromise on the pension issue and Annie Lööf announced that the Center Party will vote on the government's spring amendment budget.

But after the opposition stopped the pension compromise, it is unclear whether C will support the entire government budget.  

Jonas Hinnfors, professor of political science at the University of Gothenburg, believes that the Center Party is now facing the decision to choose sides and that some are now saying that the party will orient itself closer to the Social Democrats.

- Even if you do not get this particular pension agreement, it is probably still the case that some people say that in the end they will in some way support the government's budget, he says.

Unclear position in the middle

According to him, it has been unclear which political side the Center Party belongs to in the past year.

The party is on the one hand strong opponents of the Sweden Democrats but has at the same time had difficulty reaching agreements with the Social Democrats and at the same time keeping the Left Party out since the January agreement fell, he says.

The fact that the Center Party has also lost public opinion in recent months also creates a situation that Jonas Hinnfors calls the "minute of truth" for the party.

- Since last autumn, the Center Party has been in the unclear situation where it indirectly supports the government at the same time as it has been difficult to release parts of its policy.

It has been difficult for voters to absorb, says Jonas Hinnfors. 

Substantive issues in the shadows

The Center Party's focus on reaching agreements in what the party calls “the broad center” is also something that to some extent risks landing a bit away from the actual issue and making it more difficult to reach out with its own policy, Hinnfors says.

- This exercise around the broad center and the various government alternatives risks taking over.

Then their issues end up a bit in the shadows, if you do not end up choosing the least evil of two evil things from the Center Party's side, he says.