Sweden's First Female PM Magdalena Andersson Resigns Within 12 Hours Of Term, Who Is She And What Happened?

Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson (Instagram/@magdalenaandersson)

JAKARTA - Only 12 hours into the chair of the Prime Minister (PM) of Sweden, Magdalena Andersson resigned. The resignation of Sweden's first female prime minister came after parliament rejected the coalition's budget bill.

Parliament then passed a financial plan drawn up by the three opposition parties. This prompted the Greens to leave the coalition and left Andersson with no choice but to resign.

Citing a VOI article entitled Just 12 Hours in Office, Sweden's First Female PM Magdalena Andersson Resigns, the Greens said they would still support Andersson in next year's vote.

The Center Party vowed to abstain, which in practice is tantamount to supporting Andersson's candidacy. The Left Party also said it would support him. While these parties were unable to agree on a budget, they were united in the goal of keeping the anti-immigration, populist Swedish Social Democratic Party out of government.

"The Center Party will open the door for him (Andersson) to become prime minister", said Center Party chairman Annie Loof on Twitter.

"We will make sure, once again, that Sweden can have a government that is not dependent on the Swedish Democrats."

In addition to successfully uniting the Swedish Social Democratic Party with the Greens, Andersson also calmed the support of the Left and the Center Party, whose support the government needed. But the complex balance has now collapsed.

The Center Party is suspicious of the growing influence of the Left Party. Andersson is expected to bring them all together well to hold on to power until elections are scheduled for September 2022.

Andersson's move to the Swedish PM chair

Magdalena Andersson (Source:

Andersson took over as PM from Stefan Lofven. Löfven resigns as Sweden's prime minister after receiving a no-confidence vote from parliament.

He called on the speaker of parliament to try to form a new government instead of holding early elections. After the 2018 elections, Sweden experienced a parliamentary deadlock because no one wanted to cooperate with the Swedish Social Democratic Party.

It took four months of negotiations to produce a government led by Löfven and only introduced in January 2019, until finally in August 2021 Lofven announced his resignation from leadership in the Swedish Social Democratic Party and as Sweden's PM.

Andersson was then elected Prime Minister of Sweden on November 24, 2021. Under Swedish law, a candidate for prime minister does not require the support of a majority in parliament. She just needs to avoid a majority vote or 175 votes against her.

Of the 349 members of parliament or Riksdag, 174 people opposed it. A total of 117 MPs voted for him. While 57 abstained and one was absent. This brought Andersson to victory. Andersson's election also paid for high pensions for the Swedes.

The 54-year-old leader of the Social Democratic Party received a standing ovation from several Riksdag people. Her election as head of government was marred by a deal reached after eleven hours with the opposition party. Andersson was elected PM after 100 years of Swedish women being cast.

Andersson is a former junior swimming champion from Uppsala City. She began her political career in 1996 as a political adviser to Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson. She has spent the last seven years as Sweden's Minister of Finance.

Before lawmakers backed Magdalena Andersson, Sweden was the only Nordic country that had never had a woman serve as PM. Becoming the first female PM in history should have been a celebration for Magdalena Andersson, but that's not to say she's resigned.

Magdalena Andersson and Stefan Löfven(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the gaps that exist in this heralded affluent country and the government that needs to accelerate the shift to a "green" economy if it is to meet its climate change goals. Whatever the difficulties, Andersson will go down in the history books as Sweden's first female PM.

Stepping back 40 years earlier, Sweden's neighbor Norway had its first female leader and 60 years behind Sri Lanka, the first country to elect a female PM.

"I know what this means for girls in our country", said a visibly emotional Andersson, quoted by Reuters.

"I also grew up as a girl in Sweden and Sweden is a land of gender inequality. Of course, I was touched by this."

To quote the BBC, the complexities of Swedish politics make it impossible for many to assume that the world will see Andersson for the last time as Sweden's prime minister. If there is another PM election, Andersson may be re-elected.

The Greens have already pledged to support her, despite quitting as a formal coalition partner. But Andersson's position will be vulnerable at the helm of a fragile minority coalition that will still have to stick to budgets drawn up by opposition parties approved by parliament. We can only wait and see if the re-election of PM will break the deadlock with a significant shift to the right or left.

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