Sweden: Andersson has new minority government
After a considerable back-and-forth Magdalena Andersson is once again Prime Minister of Sweden. The Riksdag re-elected her to the post on Monday after she had resigned last Wednesday shortly after her election because the Centre (C) refused to back the government's budget. The Green Party (MP) is no longer part of what is now a rather weak minority government. What are the PM's chances of success?
The soap opera is far from over
The re-elected prime minister will not have an easy time governing in the coming weeks and months, the BBC comments:
“After a week of drama, Magdalena Andersson's prime ministerial career is back on track, but Sweden's political soap opera is far from over. Ms Andersson still has to implement a budget put together by some of her right-wing rivals. Plus, she's got to govern a fragile minority without the formal support of the Greens, who've been a crucial coalition partner since 2014. All this has highlighted the complexities of having a deeply divided eight-party parliament.”
Greens will no longer be hitting the brakes
The Social Democrats (S) will have more room to manoeuvre without the Greens, and not only in terms of climate policy, Expressen explains:
“Migration policy is another area where S now has a lot of leeway. One example is labour immigration, where both S and M [the conservatives] see a great need to end the fraud and exploitation. ... All that's needed now is for the parties to sit down at the negotiating table and reach an agreement. The same applies to the fight against crime. Without the Green Party hitting the brakes it should be possible to make progress on a number of issues such as identity fraud, excessive concerns about privacy, obstacles due to secrecy, deportations after crimes and so on.”
Arrogant elite has let the Swedes down
For Jyllands-Posten the fight against gang crime must be a priority for the new government:
“Sweden's times as a moral superpower, a dream cherished by various prime ministers, are over - an example of fear, and a warning. But it must be noted that not only the Social Democrats are to blame. Responsibility lies with all the traditional parties in the Riksdag. An additional tragedy is the abject failure of the media. One of the best and safest societies in the world has been left at the mercy of the forces of the jungle because an arrogant power elite would rather save the world than look after the welfare of the Swedes.”