Magdalena Andersson set for second chance to take Swedish PM’s post

STOCKHOLM — Magdalena Andersson, whose first stint as Sweden’s prime minister lasted just seven hours, is set to get a second chance to take the premier’s post on Monday.

Parliament speaker Andreas Norlen, who is tasked with organizing the appointment of a new prime minister, said Thursday he would ask lawmakers to vote again on Andersson’s candidacy at the start of next week.

Andersson, who heads the Social Democratic Party, was narrowly backed by parliament to form a new government on Wednesday morning, replacing her party colleague Stefan Löfven. 

However, by the afternoon Sweden’s first female prime minister quit after her proposed 2022 budget was rejected in favor of a text penned by the opposition.  

At that point, the Green Party, the Social Democrats’ junior coalition partner, pulled out of government, triggering Andersson’s resignation. Under Swedish convention, when a coalition party leaves government, the prime minister is expected to resign. 

Andersson now hopes to lead a minority Social Democrat government. 

Announcing his plan to renominate Andersson — Norlen criticized the Green Party leadership in unusually stark terms, saying they should have told him that their participation in government was contingent on the government’s budget passing. 

“If I had known that, then we could have avoided this turbulence,” he said. 

The speaker said Wednesday’s developments must have seemed “incomprehensible” for Swedish people and risked “damaging confidence in the parliament and the political system.”  

Norlen said parties in parliament had informed him they would maintain their vote preferences in a new vote on Andersson’s candidacy, clearing the way for her to be appointed prime minister for a second time when the vote is held at 1 p.m. Monday.