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Sweden gets three new ministers in government reshuffle

Sweden's parliament officially opened on Tuesday with Prime Minister Stefan Löfven announcing three new ministers.

Published: 10 September 2019 13:50 CEST
Updated: 10 September 2019 17:17 CEST
Sweden gets three new ministers in government reshuffle
Stefan Löfven addressing parliament on Tuesday. Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

Foreign trade minister and former EU minister Ann Linde will as expected take over as foreign minister after Margot Wallström announced she was leaving the post, Löfven told parliament in his opening speech.

Eva Nordmark, head of Swedish white-collar trade union organization TCO, will become Sweden's new employment minister, replacing Ylva Johansson who is set to become EU commissioner for home affairs.

And Anna Hallberg, former deputy chair of state-owned business investment organization Almi, will replace Linde as trade minister.


Löfven and his new ministers. From left, Anna Hallberg, Ann Linde and Eva Nordmark. Photo: Jonas Ekströmer/TT

Before announcing the new appointments, Löfven started his speech by vowing to strengthen Sweden's ability to face a changing world and hand over a “sustainable, safe and equal society” to future generations, highlighting global warming, healthcare waiting times and violent crime as some of the challenges.

“Our country – characterized by natural beauty, openness and hardworking people – has enormous opportunities. Only by working together can we realize Sweden's potential,” he told members of parliament.

“We deal with the problems we face together, not each on our own.”

Social Democrat leader Löfven, who returned to government in January this year after a gruelling 131 days of post-election negotiations that ended only after a cross-bloc deal was struck with the centre-liberals, kept returning to the topic of seeking broad consensus across party divides and solving problems together.

READ ALSO: What does Sweden's government deal mean for internationals?

He spoke about Sweden's place in the world and the European Union, underlining his government's commitment to “free, sustainable and fair trade” and saying that Brexit “heightens the need for active and offensive Swedish action in the EU”. He added that he would continue to work to ensure that the UK leaves the EU “in an orderly manner” but said that Sweden was also prepared to face a no-deal Brexit. 


King Carl XVI Gustaf and parliamentary speaker Andreas Norlén arrive in parliament. Photo: Claudio Bresciani/TT

He also addressed the issue of gang crime, singling out a 31-year-old woman who was shot dead in broad daylight in Malmö as a bystander when she was out with her young child – a shooting that shocked Sweden.

“The state can remove hardened criminals from the streets, but stopping the influx of young men to criminal gangs requires efforts by society as a whole. This is emphasized not least by the police. Schools, social services, local businesses and our civic organizations have important roles to play,” said Löfven.

Löfven also spoke of investing more in housing, upgrading the railway, boosting pensions, abolishing the austerity tax and introducing a bank tax to fund defence, creating more jobs and saving the climate.

“Our country will be the world's first fossil-free welfare nation,” he pledged.

Read the full government policy declaration in English here.

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POLITICS IN SWEDEN

Politics in Sweden: This year’s EU election will be a white-knuckle ride for smaller parties

With as many as three of Sweden's parties at risk of being kicked out of the European parliament, the stakes in this year's European elections are higher perhaps than ever before.

Published: 6 May 2024 16:12 CEST

According to the latest polling by Verian for Swedish public broadcaster SVT, one party – the Liberals – is already polling below the formal four percent threshold to enter the European Parliament, but two more, the Christian Democrats and the Centre Party, are worryingly close, with each polling at both 4.5 percent. 

If the poll is right, the Social Democrats are set to be the big winners in the election, gaining two additional seats, while the Left Party and the far-right Sweden Democrats are both in line to gain one additional seat.

But as well as the Liberal Party, the Centre Party, Christian Democrats, and Green Party all set to lose one seat each, but as they each currently have more than one seat, they will nonetheless keep their representation in parliament. 

Tommy Möller, a professor of politics at Stockholm University, told the TT newswire that the two parties likely to be the most worried ahead of election day on June 9th are the Liberals and the Centre Party. 

For the Liberals, it matters partly because it has long seen itself as Sweden's most pro-EU party. At its highpoint 15 years ago, it had three seats in the EU parliament, but it sank to just one in the 2020 European elections.

If the party were now to lose the last of its seats, the leadership of party chairman Johan Persson, Möller argued, would be put into question. 

"This could prompt an internal debate on party leadership," he told the TT newswire. "There's no doubt that if the Liberals, who (...) promote themselves as the most pro-EU party, lost its mandate, it would be a massive blow."  

He said he would also not rule out a leadership challenge against the Centre Party's leader Muharrem Demirok should his party lose both its seats in the EU parliament, given how badly he has struggled as leader to gain any visibility with voters .

"Obviously the Centre Party is fighting an uphill battle in the opinion polls. If it loses its seat, that would obviously add to the lack of confidence in the party leader, which could prompt an internal leadership debate," Möller said. 

For the Christian Democrats, the Verian poll is in some ways encouraging. Thus far the indications are that Folklistan, the party formed by the former Christian Democrat MEP Sara Skyttedal, is far below the 4 percent threshold, with only an estimated 1.5 percent of the vote.

While it is no doubt nibbling away at Christian Democrat support, it has so far not managed to drag the party down to the 4 percent threshold. 

Möller said he did not expect anyone to call for party leader Ebba Busch to stand down, almost regardless of the result.  

"I don't think there will be calls for her resignation, but obviously, the mandate you have as a leader is always linked to how well its going for the party in opinion polls and elections," he said.  

Return of the Greens?

Even though they are projected to lose one of their seats, if the Green Party succeeds in winning 9.5 percent of the vote on June 9th, as the polls suggest, it will still be seen as decent result, showing that the party, which has been struggling in domestic politics, at least does well in the EU elections.

If the party retains its third seat, it will be seen as a resounding victory. 

According to a popularity poll by the Aftonbladet newspaper, the party's lead MEP, Alice Bah Kuhnke, is both the second most popular politician standing in the election and the most unpopular, reflecting just how polarising party has become in Sweden. 

In the poll, 30 percent of respondents said they had high or very high confidence in Bah Kuhnke, second only to the Left Party's candidate and former leader, Jonas Sjöstedt, on 42 percent. But at the same time, 64 percent of respondents said they had "low confidence" in her.  

According to Johan Martinsson, the head of opinion research at Demoskop, who carried out the poll, this should not worry the Greens too much.

"As long as the relevant group of voters have a large amount of confidence, it doesn't really make any difference if you are despised by those who oppose you. It can almost be a good thing as it makes it easier to get attention."

Could the election mark a turnaround for the party, which has voted in two new leaders this year? 

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