Swedish lawmakers have again elected Magdalena Andersson to the role of prime minister, days after she resigned from the post. She is set once more to become the first female prime minister in the country’s history.
Here’s what happened. Swedish lawmakers first elected Andersson last Wednesday, but she decided to step down after a budget defeat in parliament made a coalition partner quit.
The government rejected its own budget proposal in favor of one presented by the opposition (which includes the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats), as The Associated Press reported. That prompted the Green Party to leave the two-party minority government.
Andersson later said at a news conference that she did not “want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy.” The BBC reports that the prime minister is expected by convention to resign if a coalition party leaves the government.
And on Monday she won her second election in less than a week.
A milestone: The first woman leader of Sweden
Her election is a huge milestone for one of the world’s most gender-equal countries. As the Sweden’s official account noted on Twitter, Andersson was preceded in her job by 33 men. Before MPs backed Magdalena Andersson, Sweden was the only Nordic state never to have a woman as PM.
Andersson told reporters after the vote that she’s ready to “take Sweden forward” with a platform focused on welfare, climate change and crime, according to the BBC.
Andersson has served as Sweden’s finance minister since 2014. She previously worked as deputy director-general of the Swedish Tax Agency.
Her new government will remain in place until Sweden’s next general election, which is scheduled for next September.
Source: NPR, CNN, BBC