Swedes elect the first female Prime Minister Andersson again a week later
Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press
Published Monday 29 November 2021 21:30 EST
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) – Magdalena Andersson, who last week was Swedens first female prime minister for a few hours before resigning due to a budget defeat caused a coalition partner to quit, was re-elected on Monday to the Nordic nation’s head of government.
With 101 -173 votes with 75 abstentions, the Riksdag elected Andersson, leader of the Social Democrats, as Prime Minister with 349 seats. She will form a one-party minority government. Her cabinet is expected to be appointed on Tuesday. Formally, she will be installed after an audience with King Carl XVI Gustav, Swedengalleon monarch.
Andersson was prime minister for seven hours before resigning last week after the Greens left her two-party coalition. Their move followed the rejection of her government’s budget proposal in favor of one put forward by opposition parties including the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, rooted in a neo-Nazi movement.
According to the Swedish Constitution, prime ministers can be appointed and govern as long as a parliamentary majority – at least 175 legislators – is not against them.
– It feels good and I am eager to start, Andersson said about his appointment.
Andersson, who was finance minister before he became prime minister, said she would present her government policy on Tuesday when her cabinet is appointed. But she said she has had three priorities – welfare, climate and fighting violence. Sweden has seen an increase in organized crime in recent years and several gang-related shootings have occurred in the three largest cities, Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
Andersson repeated that she would rule Sweden with the opposition’s budget based on the government’s own proposal but of the SEK 74 billion ($ 8.2 billion) that the government wanted to spend on reforms, just over SEK 20 billion ($ 2.2 billion) will be redistributed next year. The approved budget aims to reduce taxes, raise salaries for police officers and more money to various sectors of Swedens judiciary.
In a speech to parliament, Center Party leader Annie Loof said that a female prime minister “means a lot to many girls and women to see this glass roof smashed. I am proud that (Center Party) is involved and makes this possible.” Her party abstained from voting for or against Andersson, which paved the way for her election.
Andersson’s appointment as Prime Minister had marked a milestone for Sweden, is seen for decades as one of Europe’s most progressive countries in terms of gender relations, but which did not yet have a woman in the top political position.
Sweden is the last Nordic country to have a female prime minister. The current heads of government in Denmark and Finland are women, Mette Frederiksen and Sanna Marin respectively. Norway’s first Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland took office in 1981, while Johanna Sigurdardottir became Iceland’s first female Prime Minister in 2009.
With 10 months until the next election, Andersson said with a smile that she hopes to keep the job for 10 years.
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