Swedes Elect 1st Female Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson

Magdalena Andersson, who last week was Sweden’s first female prime minister for a few hours before resigning because a budget defeat made a coalition partner quit, was on elected again on Monday, Nov. 29, 2021, as the Nordic nation’s head of government, Jan M. Olsen reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister of Sweden

In a 101 -173 vote with 75 abstentions, the 349-seat Riksdag elected Andersson, leader of the Social Democrats, as prime minister. She will form a one-party, minority government.

Her Cabinet is expected to be named Tuesday. Formally, she will be installed following an audience with King Carl XVI Gustav, Sweden’s figurehead monarch.

Andersson served as prime minister for seven hours before stepping down 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 presented by opposition parties, including the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats, who are rooted in a neo-Nazi movement.

Under the Swedish Constitution, prime ministers can be named and govern as long as a parliamentary majority — a minimum of 175 lawmakers — is not against them. “It feels good and I am eager to start,” Andersson said of her appointment.

Andersson who was finance minister before becoming prime minister said she would present her government policies Tuesday when her Cabinet is named. However, she said she has three priorities — welfare, climate, and combating violence.

Sweden has seen a rise in organized crime activity in the past few years and several gang-related shootings have occurred in the three main cities, Stockholm, Goteborg, and Malmo.

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