Sweden's Centre leader hands task of forming government back to parliament speaker

STOCKHOLM, Oct 26 - Swedish Centre Party leader Elisabeth Thand Ringqvist said on Monday she was handing the process of forming a government back to parliament speaker Andreas Norlen, as widely expected, after he tasked her a week ago with trying.

An election last month gave the centre-left bloc a narrow majority in parliament, but while all four opposition parties favour Social Democrats leader Magdalena Andersson as prime minister, they do not agree on who should be part of a new government.

• Ringqvist told reporters on Monday that there was no majority for a centrist government

• "There is a clear demand for solutions that can bring together a broader majority," she said

• "However, the parliamentary situation makes it difficult at present to translate that support into a government," she added

• Andersson earlier this month lost a parliament vote to form a government, as widely expected

• Speaker Norlen could now decide to schedule a new parliament vote for prime minister regardless, or hand the task of government formation to the leader of another party

• The centre-left opposition in September won 176 seats to 173 for Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's right-wing bloc REUTERS