”For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,” said Magdalena Andersson, the first female prime minister of Sweden, who resigned just after seven and a half hours of her appointment. Andersson was serving as the leader of the Swedish Social Democratic Party since November 4, 2021, and was later elected by the Riksdag as Sweden’s prime minister on November 24, 2021. Unfortunately, the collapse of her party’s coalition with the Green Party resulted in her resignation on the very first day, leading to political uncertainty.
The budget proposal by Andersson’s government was rejected with a vote of 154-143 against the one presented by the opposition, which included the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. Although she made history by being the first female prime minister of Sweden (the last Nordic country to have a female head of government) replacing Stefan Lofven, chances of being questioned on respect and legitimacy made her leave the seat.
Andersson was the head of the minority two-party coalition, supported by Left and Centre parties, but the refusal of the Centre party to stand in favor of the new government’s finance bill shattered the alliance. The approved budget is based on the government’s proposal and aims to reduce taxes, increase salaries for police officers, and have increase funding to Sweden’s judiciary system.
Magdalena Andersson was a finance minister before becoming the prime minister. Although she resigned, she informed Andreas Norlen, Sweden’s 349 seat parliament speaker, that she was still interested in leading a Social Democratic one-party government. Norlen stated that he would “discuss the situation” with Sweden’s eight party leaders. The Green Party supported Andersson’s willingness and said that it would support her in any new confirmation votes in parliament.
While Left, Green, and Centre parties did not agree on the same budget, they seem united on the goal of keeping the anti-immigration party, Sweden Democrats and populist, out of the government. Keeping that in mind, the Centre Party also agreed to open doors for Andersson to be the prime minister, and have a government independent of Sweden Democrats.
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