Sweden’s first female Prime Minister (PM) and former Finance Minister, Magdalena Andersson, has been reappointed to her post by the Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, just one week after she resigned from the post over the collapse of her coalition government.
Andersson was reappointed via a slim margin in the 349-member parliament, with 101 MPs voting in her favour and 173 voting against; meanwhile, 75 MPs abstained.
According to Swedish law, to be appointed as PM, a candidate must merely ensure that a majority of the MPs do not vote against them. Hence, this vote paved the way for Andersson to lead the single-party government until the country’s next election in September 2022.
However, due to the collapse of the coalition, Andersson will face obstacles while passing legislation, given her party has only 100 seats. She will thus be forced to make a deal with the other parties, including the Greens and the Left and the Centre parties, on a case-to-case basis. Moreover, she may also be pushed to collaborate with right-wing parties on issues that the Green Party blocks.
Andersson, who replaced Stefan Löfven, was announced the leader on Wednesday last week after securing a last-minute deal with the Left Party in exchange for a rise in pensions. She also secured support from the Green Party for her nomination as the PM. However, she resigned less than 12 hours after being appointed.
Also Read: Sweden’s First Female PM Resigns Hours After Appointment Following Collapse of Coalition
After her coalition government’s budget proposal was rejected, the Riksdag passed a budget proposed by a coalition of conservative, right-wing parties, which pushed the Green Party to withdraw its support from the Social Democratic Party-led coalition government. The Green Party criticised the budget for “differentiating between people, butchering the environmental budget, and increasing emissions.” The Greens then withdrew their support for the Social Democratic Party candidate, saying they would not support a budget drafted with the far-right Sweden Democrats, and quit the coalition. According to the Swedish convention, the PM is expected to step down if a coalition party withdraws from the government, and Andersson thus resigned.
Despite the political turmoil that preceded Monday’s decision to reappoint Andersson, it is nonetheless a historic occasion in Sweden, as the PMship has previously only been held by 33 men.