Sweden appoints CFO as first female Prime Minister
Sweden’s Minister of Finance Magdalena Andersson became the Nordic region’s largest female prime minister after winning a narrow vote in the Riksdag.
A last-minute agreement with the former Communist Left Party ensured that a majority of lawmakers accepted the Social Democratic leader in a parliamentary vote, 100 years after women in the country known for their equal foundations could only exercise full suffrage.
Andersson, who has been Minister of Finance since 2014, is still facing a fragmented legislative assembly after the Nordic nation’s policy has been disturbed by the right-wing extremist Sweden Democrats’ growth over the past decade. Her government controls only about a third of the seats, and later Wednesday her next year’s spending proposal will be rejected in favor of an opposition proposal.
The budget vote illustrates that the kind of deal that brought Andersson’s predecessor Stefan Lofven to power can be a thing of the past.
While Lofven was able to form a government after an incomplete election in 2018 by collaborating with traditional opponents, a similar solution seems remote for Andersson, as center parties have withdrawn from their support while the Left has taken a more independent stance.
Sweden’s next general election will be held in September next year and current opinion polls do not indicate a clear winner.
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