Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP via Getty Images
On Wednesday the 14th, Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson has been voted down by the parliament.
Ulf Kristersson’s proposed coalition government of the Moderates and the Christian Democrats was voted down by a parliamentary majority of 195 to 154 votes supporting the government.
The far-right Sweden Democrats voted in favor of the proposal, the centre-left bloc, made up of the Social Democrats, Greens and Left Party, rejected it. The Moderates’ allies, the Liberals and Centre Party also rejected Kristersson’s proposal.
Jan Björklund of the Liberals reiterated his support for centre-right allies as well as Kristersson as a potential prime minister, but explained his rationale stating that the Wednesday’s vote was about something more and something bigger. “There is a rising tide of right-wing nationalism in the western world, which is antithetic to liberal ideas such as globalization, European cooperation, free trade, openness, which have built our entire successful western model of society,” Björklund added.
Swedish parliament speaker Andreas Norlén put Kristersson forward after over two months of negotiation stalemate following the parliamentary elections in September. The parliament has not rejected a speaker’s candidate since 1971 when Sweden switched from bicameral to today’s unicameral parliament system.
Speaker Norlén will meet the party leaders for another round of talks on Thursday. He will have three more attempts to put forward a prime ministerial candidate before a new election is called.
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
