Brussels (Brussels Morning) Sweden’s new Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, back in office just days after resigning, the Riksdag having determined not to reject her candidacy, immediately pledged that her new government would usher in “a green industrial revolution”, improve the welfare system and solve the problem of gang violence.
On becoming the country’s first female Prime Minister last week, Andersson resigned within hours when the junior partner in her governing coalition pulled out following a failed budget vote in the parliament. Andersson, opting to soldier on, successfully sought reappointment as PM, this time leading a single-party, minority government comprising her Social Democrats.
Sweden’s parliamentary system requires that a PM-designate has to be rejected by a majority of deputies, whereas Andersson was supported directly and indirectly by other centre and centre-left parties. The centre-right and right-wing parties voted to deny her the premiership, but were ultimately in the minority.
Andersson received direct support from the Green Party and the former communist the Left Party, while the agrarian Centre Party abstained from the vote. In effect, this denied the right-wing the majority needed to reject her as PM.
The new PM appointed Social Democrat veteran Mikael Damberg as the new Finance Minister today. He takes on a budget already shaped by opposition amendments that were passed last week, which lower petrol taxes and increase funds for fighting gang violence.
He will be able to change the budgetary plans only if he is able to win majority backing for the spring supplementary budget bill next year, a task that makes Andersson’s pledge to fight climate change appear much harder to achieve.
The opposition is already dismissing the new government as a “nine-month caretaker government”, since Sweden is scheduled to hold regular parliamentary elections in September next year.
