Hours after being nominated as Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, leader of the Social Democratic Party, resigned on Wednesday following budgetary defeats in parliament and the departure of her Greens coalition partner. bipartisan minority government.
Pontus Lundahl / TT via AP
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Pontus Lundahl / TT via AP
Hours after being nominated as Sweden’s prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, leader of the Social Democratic Party, resigned on Wednesday following budgetary defeats in parliament and the departure of her Greens coalition partner. bipartisan minority government.
Pontus Lundahl / TT via AP
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Hours after becoming Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson resigned on Wednesday following a budget defeat in parliament and her coalition partner the Greens left politics minority party government.
The government’s budget proposal was rejected in favor of a proposal put forward by the opposition, including right-wing Swedish Democrats. Sweden’s third largest party has its roots in the neo-Nazi movement. The vote was 154-143 in favor of the opposition budget proposal.
Andersson, leader of the Social Democrats, decided it was best to step down more than seven hours after she made history as the first woman to lead the country.
“For me, it’s about respect, but I also don’t want to lead a government where there can be grounds to question its legitimacy,” Andersson told a news conference.
Green Party coalition partners pulled their support
Andersson, who briefly served as finance minister before becoming prime minister, informed parliament speaker Andreas Norlen that she was still interested in leading a Social Democratic one-party government.
Norlen, speaker of Sweden’s 349-seat parliament, said he would be in touch with eight of Sweden’s party leaders “to discuss the situation.” On Thursday, he will announce the way forward.
Andersson said that “a coalition government should resign if one party chooses to leave the government. Despite the fact that the parliamentary situation has not changed, it needs to be tried again.”
Although the Greens have withdrawn support for her government, they have said they are ready to stand behind Andersson in a new vote to elect a prime minister.
But the Greens say pulling support for her after the budget defeat in parliament is in the party’s best interest.
Green Party spokeswoman Marta Stenevi said: “We have a united party that stands behind and says we cannot sit in government implementing a negotiated (Swedish Democrat) policy. We have to look voters in the eye and feel proud.” to resign from the government.
“It’s something we deeply regret,” said another Green Party spokesman, Per Bolund.
Andersson’s appointment marked an important milestone
Earlier in the day, Andersson said she could “run the country with the opposition’s budget.”
The approved budget is based on the government’s proposal but of the 74 billion kronor ($8.2 billion) that the government wants to spend on reforms, just over 20 billion kronor ($2.2 billion) will be distributed. again next year, said Swedish broadcaster SVT. The budget passed is aimed at reducing taxes, increasing wages for police officers and more money for different areas of the Swedish justice system.
Andersson’s appointment as prime minister marks a major milestone for Sweden, which for decades has been considered one of Europe’s most progressive countries in terms of gender relations, yet has yet to have a woman. Which women hold the top political positions?
Andersson has been mined replace Stefan Lofven as party leader and prime minister, a role he gave up earlier this year.
Earlier in the day, 117 lawmakers voted in favor of Andersson, 174 rejected her appointment while 57 abstained and one lawmaker was absent.
Under the Swedish Constitution, the prime minister can be appointed and run as long as a parliamentary majority – a minimum of 175 lawmakers – is not against them.
Sweden’s next general election is scheduled for September 11.
