Magdalena Andersson becomes the new Prime Minister of Sweden. Parliament has given the green light for her appointment with the smallest possible difference. It is the first time that a woman has held that position.
The social democrat Andersson (54) succeeds party colleague Stefan Löfven, who announced in August that he would resign as government and party leader. He has headed a red-green minority government for the past seven years. Andersson was Secretary of the Treasury at the time.
Just not a majority against
Of the 349 members of parliament, 117 voted for Andersson as the new prime minister. That’s far from a majority, but the Swedish constitution states that prime ministers can be appointed if there is no majority in return for is.
In this case, 174 parliamentarians voted against, making the appointment a fact. Two opposition parties abstained, one of them did so in exchange for a pledge on pensions.
Andersson was visibly moved when the result of the vote was announced:
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