Magdalena Andersson reelected as Sweden’s 1st female premier

By Atilla Altuntas

STOCKHOLM (AA) - Magdalena Andersson, who resigned just seven hours after being chosen as Sweden’s first female prime minister last week, was again selected for the post on Monday.

The country’s 349-seat parliament in a 101-173 vote with 75 abstentions elected Andersson, who heads the Social Democratic Party. She will attempt to lead a one-party government until elections are held in September next year.

Andersson stood down as prime minister last Wednesday after the Green Party left her two-party coalition when her budget proposal failed to pass in parliament, which instead voted for a budget drawn up by a group of opposition parties, including the far-right Sweden Democrats.

Shortly after the latest vote in parliament, Jimmie Akesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, said the Social Democratic Party was negotiating with a party that has links to the PKK terrorist organization to form a government.

Akesson said the negotiations were conducted through Amineh Kakabaveh, who was expelled from the Left Party for her anti-Islamic views and was an independent deputy in parliament.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar