Sweden asks Andersson to try again to form government

Swedish parliament speaker Andreas Norlen asked Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson on Friday to make another attempt to form a government, days after she abandoned a first bid.

Norlen said Andersson's formal assignment would start on October 5 and that she should report back by October 12. He said the political and parliamentary conditions were unchanged from when she first received the task.

The centre-left opposition bloc won 176 seats in the September 13 election, against 173 for outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing bloc, which includes the Sweden Democrats. Norlen first asked Andersson to start government talks on September 18, but she gave up on September 28 after failing to unite the three other parties in her bloc because of deep ideological differences.

The speaker has four attempts to assign the task of forming a government. If the fourth attempt fails, Sweden must hold a snap election.