In Sweden, a politician could be elected Prime Minister for the first time today who relies on the support of the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. The conservative Ulf Kristersson faces a vote in the Riksdag in Stockholm in the morning (from 11 a.m.).
In order to be chosen as the successor to the social democrat Magdalena Andersson, it is enough for him if no majority speaks against him. If that succeeds, the 58-year-old will make a government statement on Tuesday and present his cabinet. After an appointment with King Carl XVI. Gustaf, the new government could then officially start work.
The chairman of the party The Moderates should have the necessary support for the parliamentary vote: he announced on Friday that he had agreed on a government basis with several parties, including the Sweden Democrats.
Minority governments not uncommon in Scandinavia
Accordingly, Kristersson wants to govern with a three-party coalition consisting of his moderates, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, and which can be supported in parliament by the right-wing populists in order to achieve a majority.
Such minority governments without their own governing majority are not uncommon in Scandinavia – what is new, however, is that the Sweden Democrats will be actively involved as a supporting party in such a constellation.
Kristersson’s right-wing conservative camp won a slim majority of 176 out of 349 seats in Sweden’s September 11 parliamentary elections. After eight years under Social Democratic leadership – first under Stefan Löfven for a long time, then under Andersson – the signs were pointing to a change of government.
The Sweden Democrats had achieved record results in the election and replaced the moderates as the second strongest political force for the first time. Without them, Kristersson’s planned coalition will not achieve a majority in the Reichstag, giving the right-wing populists greater power.
Core topics crime, migration and integration
Their cooperation with the future government is based on the so-called Tidö agreement, which is named after a castle in which the parties involved had agreed on several intersections in the past few weeks.
They have anchored seven cooperation projects in it, including those on crime, migration and integration, which are important issues for the Sweden Democrats. Sweden Democrat leader Jimmie Åkesson has already announced a “paradigm shift in immigration and integration policy”.
