Andersson Tasked with Forming Swedish Government

Reuters

Magdalena Andersson.

Sweden's parliament speaker said on Friday that he had tasked former Swedish PM and leader of the Social Democrats Magdalena Andersson with forming a government following her party's win in the recent elections. 

Andersson, who became Sweden’s first woman prime minister and served from 2021 to 2022, now faces the challenge of bringing together a left-wing bloc divided by ideological differences.

"It is a task I take on with great humility, and I will act constructively to form a new administration," Andersson, 59, said in a statement posted to Instagram. "I want to lead a government that realizes the new direction that the Swedish people have voted for – a direction that moves Sweden forward and keeps our country united."

Andersson is expected to seek to form a government with the three other parties on the left: the Left Party, the Centre Party and the Greens.

However, the Centre Party has said it would oppose a government that gives cabinet positions to the Left Party. The Left Party, meanwhile, has insisted that it will only support a left-wing government if it is part of the governing coalition.

Following Sunday’s general election, the four left-wing parties hold a three-seat majority in Sweden’s 349-member parliament over the outgoing government of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. His right-wing alliance includes the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats.



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