Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson resigned after her coalition lost majority power to a far-right bloc in the recent election

By Sebastian Aguilar, Blobcast Show Manager

In the wake of the Swedish parliamentary elections, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson resigned amid the loss of her left-wing coalition’s majority. 

To have a majority in parliament in Sweden, one must hold 175 seats out of the 349. It rarely happens that just one party holds the majority; usually coalitions between parties have to be created in order to have a functioning majority government. 

During this most recent election, the far-right Swedish Democrats became the second biggest party in the Swedish parliament with around 20% of the seats. This has collapsed the Swedish government and forced a coalition building process that could take months.

The current landscape of parliament post-election has former Prime Minister Andersson’s center-left Social Democrats gaining seven seats for a total of 100 out of the 349; however, her coalition of parties such as the Left Party and the Green Party couldn’t manage to retain the 175 minimum. On the other side of the political spectrum, the parties on the right wing tallied up 176 seats.

“I went to the polls to defend human rights and freedoms. That is where we Liberals will have to aim our fire in the coming years,” Romina Pourmokthari, a member of the central-right Liberal Party said.

The leader of the center-right Moderate Party Ulf Kristersson has said that he will head the coalition process and “create a government for all of Sweden and all citizens.” He plans on having the Moderates and the Christian Democrats be the core of his coalition; the Swedish Democrats and other right-wing parties will be offered concessions to be in the coalition, but not actually be in the government itself. 

Due to the sheer number of seats that the Swedish Democrats hold, they are expected to have a large amount of influence in the coalition’s platform and which policies are pursued, even if they aren’t in the cabinet itself.

When the news broke that his party had the second most seats, Jimmie Åkesson, leader of the Sweden Democrats party, said, “We have had enough of failed social democratic policies that for eight years have continued to lead the country in the wrong direction. It is time to start rebuilding security, welfare and cohesion. It is time to put Sweden first.” Kri

This election follows the trend in Europe of far-right anti-immigration populists winning big during elections such as in Italy, France and Hungary. 

“There are right-wing populist parties in many European countries, but the Sweden Democrats have deep roots in the Swedish neo-Nazis and other racist organisations in Sweden,” Anderson said.

“Our success in the election implies a heavy responsibility to voters, which we will manage as well as we can and with respect,” said Swedish Democrats leader Jimmie Åkesson said Wednesday.

“We have an election result, we have the mandate for change we asked for. I will now begin the process of forming a new government for Sweden and all its citizens,” Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson said. Kristersson is expected to become Prime Minister as he and his party attempt to stitch together a new, functional government in the aftermath of the election.