Sweden gets first woman Prime Minister
Spiritual_Chaos
Posts: 30,564
Sweden’s parliament on Wednesday elected Social Democratic party leader and current Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson as the country’s first woman prime minister after she clinched a last-minute deal securing key support.
Andersson will succeed outgoing Prime Minister Stefan Lofven after a total of 117 members of parliament voted for her, while 57 abstained, 174 voted against and one was absent.
Under Sweden’s system, a prime ministerial candidate does not need the support of a majority in parliament, they just need to not have a majority — or 175 votes — against them.
The 54-year-old, who took over as leader of the Social Democrats earlier this month, reached a deal with the Left Party late on Tuesday to raise pensions in exchange for its backing in Wednesday’s vote.
She had previously received the support of the Social Democrats’ coalition partner the Greens, as well as the Centre Party.
However, Andersson faced her first setback even before her election on Wednesday.
The Centre Party announced that while it would not oppose Andersson in the vote for prime minister, it would withdraw its support for the government’s budget to be voted on later Wednesday, due to the concessions made to the Left.
"Mostly I think that people react sensitively because they know you’ve got a point"
Comments
-Eddie Vedder, "Smile"
Sweden's first ever female prime minister has resigned just hours after she was appointed.
Magdalena Andersson, was announced as leader on Wednesday but resigned after her coalition partner quit the government and her budget failed to pass.
Instead, parliament voted for a budget drawn up by the opposition which includes the anti-immigrant far right.
"I have told the speaker that I wish to resign," Ms Andersson told reporters.
Her coalition partner, the Green Party said it could not accept a budget "drafted for the first time with the far-right".
Ms Andersson said that she hoped to try to become prime minister again as a single party government leader.
"There is a constitutional practice that a coalition government should resign when one party quits," the Social Democrat said on Wednesday. "I don't want to lead a government whose legitimacy will be questioned.
-EV 8/14/93
who wants to start a "Should I ask Magdalena out on a date?" thread?
-EV 8/14/93
The Green Party that was part of the government with The Social Democrats said they would refuse to rule with the oppositions budget with the opposion (right winged parties) accepting and having started to work with a de facto racist party. So they left the government when the oppositions budget was voted through instead of the governments.
She will be voted in again and the Socialdemocrats has to solve the problem of juggling the needed parties demands about the budget and stuff.
-- so:
Sweden gets first woman Prime Minister