The pressure on Sweden’s minority government decreases when the opposition divides over the budget
STOCKHOLM, September 11 (Reuters) – The chances that Sweden’s minority, center-left coalition will manage its autumn budget and avoid a quick election increased on Friday after the opposition leader Sweden Democrats said that his party would not support an alternative finance bill.
Mathematics remains complex, but without the Sweden Democrats, the center-right opposition would probably only get 112 votes in the 349-seat parliament for a joint budget against the 116 that the Social Democratic-Green government commands.
“As it looks now, there is no reason for us to support a budget when we have not been involved in the discussions during which it was formulated,” the Sweden Democrats’ leader Jimmie Akesson told Expressen in an interview.
Sweden’s budget rules mean that the Finance Bill with the greatest support in Parliament is adopted.
Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson favorite to take over as Prime Minister when Stefan Lofven resigns https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/swedish-pm-lofven-says-step-down-november-2021-08- 22 /? Taid = 61228ac8ced6e00001765f17 & utm_campaign = trueAnthem: + Trending + Content & utm_medium = trueAnthem & utm_source = twitter in November-has promised an increase of SEK 74 billion ($ 8.6 billion) https://www.reuters.com/article/ sweden-economy-idUSL8N2 economy in the budget for 2022.
But the chances of the bill going through have looked uncertain.
Without the support of the coalition from the left and center parties, a united opposition could have forced an alternative finance bill through parliament, which could probably lead to a quick election.
Neither the Left nor the Center Party have said they will support the budget proposal – which will be published on September 20 – and both have very different political priorities.
The Center Party – which sat on the right in the middle of the government from 2006 to 2014 – has further complicated the matter and has said that it would not support a budget if the government negotiates its content with the left party. The Left Party said they wanted a word on spending.
Sweden is expecting general elections in September 2022 and all parties are keen to avoid two votes in one year.
($ 1 = 8.6310 Swedish kronor)
(Reporting by Simon Johnson; Editing by William Mallard)