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Sweden first elected a woman to the post of prime minister
Finance Minister Magdalena Anderson will head a left-wing minority prime minister, and she is expected to record a loss in the budget vote from day one.
Despite this, she was excited to make history.
"I know what it means for the girls in our country"
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Sweden
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Wednesday, 24 November 2021, 15:15 Updated: 15:16
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The first test is near.
Anderson (Photo: Reuters)
The leader of the Social Democratic Party in Sweden, Magdalena Anderson, today (Wednesday) became the first woman to serve as prime minister.
At the age of 54, the veteran finance minister was appointed to the post thanks to a last-minute agreement reached with the former Communist Left Party, but already today she will face her first test - the budget transfer - which she is likely to lose.
Parliament will later vote on the center-left government's proposal, but it is expected to be rejected in favor of amendments introduced by the center-right opposition, including cuts in fuel taxes and an increase in the judiciary's resources to combat rising crime.
Anderson stressed that she will continue in the role despite the apparent loss on her first day in the role.
"I think it (the budget) is something I can live with," she said at a news conference.
Anderson has been a member of the government of Stephen Lofven, the prime minister for the past seven years, who resigned earlier this year.
It will try to hold out until the next election, which is scheduled for September.
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Anderson, who became prime minister a hundred years after women were given the right to vote in Swedish elections, received a problematic legacy from Lufen. He managed to hold together the Social Democrats' minority coalition with the Greens, with outside support from the Left Party and the Center Party. However, the delicate balance has now collapsed, in light of the center-right reservations about the growing influence of the former Communist Left Party.
"We can not support a government budget that moves too left," Center Party leader Annie Loff told reporters. The Green Party said it would "consider the options at its disposal" if the opposition wins the budget vote.
Even if it succeeds in establishing its status, Anderson faces significant challenges: gang violence and crime have spread to many major cities, the corona plague has revealed gaps in Sweden's famous welfare policy and the government needs to accelerate the transition to a "green" economy to meet climate change goals.
Despite the many challenges, Anderson will go down in the history books as Sweden's first prime minister - 40 years after its neighbor Norway and 60 years after Sri Lanka, the first country in the world to have a woman as prime minister.
"I know what that means for girls in our country," said the excited Anderson.
"I also grew up as a child in Sweden, and Sweden is a country of gender inequality. Definitely, I'm excited about it."
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