Just hours after she was named Sweden’s new prime minister, Magdalena Andersson announced her resignation. The reason is the disagreement over budget plans with the coalition partner.
Magdalena Andersson said she had asked Parliament Speaker Andreas Norlén to step down. Norlén approved the Social Democrat dismissal request and announced that he would contact party leaders to discuss the situation. He said that on Thursday afternoon he will give more information on how to proceed further.
Andersson was elected that same morning by the Swedish Parliament as Sweden ‘s first female prime minister . The reason for her resignation just a few hours later was an opposition budget proposal, which was later approved by parliament. The government is obliged to adhere to this proposal.
Andersson plans to return to the helm of government
The Green Party, which is in coalition with the Social Democrats, then announced that it would leave the government – because the new budget was negotiated by the opposition, which consists of the moderates (Moderata samlingspartiet), the Christian Democrats (Kristdemokraterna) and the right-wing populists. , Democrats of Sweden (Sverigedemokraterna).
In Sweden it is common for a coalition government to leave when a party leaves the coalition. Andersson, who is ready for the government with the newly approved budget, said she did not want to lead a government whose legitimacy is in question. The 54-year-old now hopes to be able to return with a purely social-democratic minority government – and recalled that the Greens would continue to support her as prime minister.
