New Swedish Prime Minister presents three-party government
Sweden’s Prime Minister-elect Ulf Kristersson promised on Tuesday to set the country on a new course on immigration, criminal justice and energy policy as he unveiled a centre-right coalition government led by his conservative Moderate Party.
The new government consists of 24 ministers — 13 men and 11 women. Thirteen are moderates, six Christian Democrats and five liberals. The three centrist parties secured a majority in parliament after the September 11 election with the help of the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party that has entered the political mainstream after years of being treated as a pariah by the other parties.
The moderates’ parliamentary leader Tobias Billström was appointed foreign minister, while the head of the parliament’s defense committee, Pal Jonson, another moderate, was appointed defense minister.
Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch became energy minister and 25-year-old Romina Pourmokhtari from the Liberals made history as Sweden’s youngest ever cabinet minister, with responsibility for the climate and environment portfolio. Elisabeth Svantesson, the spokesperson for the Moderate Party in economic policy, was appointed as finance minister.
In a speech to parliament, Kristersson promised an overhaul of the penal code and increased powers for the police to fight criminal gangs that have become more powerful and violent in recent years.
“No other country in all of Europe has the same violent trend as Sweden: 53 shooting deaths so far this year, often outright executions,” he said. “The government is now launching the biggest offensive in Sweden’s history against organized crime.”
He also promised a “paradigm shift” for immigration policy, marking a definitive end to decades of liberal immigration policies that had already begun to tighten under the previous Social Democratic government.
“Immigration to Sweden has been unsustainable,” resulting in poor integration, unemployment, insecurity and other problems, Kristersson said.
About 20% of Sweden’s 10 million inhabitants are foreign-born, many of them refugees from war-torn countries including Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia.
Attitudes towards immigration have hardened in Sweden in recent years, fueling the rise of the Sweden Democrats, who support Kristersson’s government in exchange for having their say on the government’s policies.
Center-left opposition politicians have accused Kristersson’s coalition of destroying Sweden’s international reputation as a tolerant and welcoming nation.
In the area of energy, Kristersson signaled an expansion of nuclear power, which previous Swedish governments had begun to phase out. He said Sweden’s target for electricity production would be changed from “100% renewable” to “100% fossil-free”, leaving room for nuclear power.
The 58-year-old Moderate Party leader supports Sweden’s and neighboring Finland’s bid to join NATO and said his government would stick to the previous government’s deal with Turkey to withdraw aid to Kurdish groups Ankara accuses of terrorism. Turkey has made a crackdown on exiled Kurdish militants living in the Nordic countries a prerequisite for NATO membership.
“Together with Finland, Sweden will complete the accession to NATO,” said Kristersson.
The new government represents a strong shift to the right for Sweden, where the centre-left Social Democrats were in power for 8 years.
Later on Tuesday, the new government was formally presented to King Carl XVI Gustaf. The duties of Sweden’s head of state are ceremonial and the monarch has no political power.
___ Associated Press writer Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this report.