A week after resigning, Sweden’s prime minister is re-elected

The Swedish parliament re-elected Magdalena Andersson as prime minister days after she resigned. She is the first woman to hold the most important political office in the country.

Andersson was chosen to be prime minister last week but resigned the same day after her budget proposal was defeated, and the coalition government she had hoped to lead collapsed.

Now she has been reappointed to the post by the Swedish Parliament and intends to form a minority government, composed only of her own party.

She will officially take over her assignments after a meeting with the country’s king on Tuesday (30), a phase that she did not complete last week.

Andersson was nominated through a vote in the Swedish Parliament, which is heavily divided. While 101 deputies voted for her, 173 voted against and 75 abstained. Under the country’s rules, a new prime minister can be elected as long as a majority of lawmakers do not vote against him.

As prime minister, Andersson was preceded by 33 men. She will replace Stefan Löfven, who stepped down as the country’s prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party earlier this month, and has since led an interim government.

But his position will once again be uncomfortable, given Sweden’s fragmented political environment. Andersson’s Social Democrats have 100 seats in the 349 Parliament, meaning the party will still have to rely on other parties to pass any bills.

Löfven ruled after carrying out a complex juggling act to secure the support of the left and center parties in Parliament, which were not part of the coalition government.

However, the center party, which was attracted to Löfven, withdrew from supporting Andersson’s budget last week.

After the re-vote this Monday (29), the Swedish Social Democrats tweeted: “Let’s break down segregation and ward off violence, create the green jobs of the future, lead on climate change and restore (social) well-being. Led by Magdalena Andersson – our prime minister!”

She is expected to present her government nominations to the king on Tuesday (30), at a formal meeting known as the Council of State.

Andersson has served as Sweden’s finance minister since 2014. Previously, he worked as deputy general director of the Swedish Tax Agency.

(Translated text. Read the original here.)