Sweden selects first female Prime Minister; wins by one vote

Magdalena Andersson has been “accepted” by Sweden’s Riksdag to become the first woman Prime Minister of the country.

Sweden, with the move has ended its reign for being the only Nordic country not to have ever elected a woman to lead. Andersson has now replaced Prime Minister Stefan Lofven as the leader of the Social Democrats.

She is the current finance minister of the country but did not get enough votes to be elected on Wednesday. In fact, she was accepted as PM by the Riksdag because the majority did not vote against her.

At 54, Andersson did become the first Swedish woman ever to lead the country, but she wasn’t accepted easily. A behind the scenes deal was struck with the opposition Left Party.

The Social Democrats hold a minority government, and without coalition and opposition support they are unable to pass their agenda.

Her government vowed to pay higher pensions to many Swedes in exchange for the Left Party’s votes.

Out of 349 members, 174 voted against Andersson. Only 117 voted in her favor, and 57 abstained, consequentially letting her win by a single vote.

Andersson would never have been accepted as the PM if one extra member voted against her.

She is now set to face a tough opposition which has already refused to allow her 2022 budget to pass. Her government’s coalition members are also unhappy, and the Centre Party has also refused to support the budget.

Andersson was given a standing ovation by the Riksdag, and will now lead Sweden’s “Feminist Government,” but will face further challenges such as battling COVID-19 cases and getting the people “ready for vaccine passports.”