Swedish parliament elects Ulf Kristersson as new PM

Sweden’s parliament had held a vote on Monday on the proposed formation of a minority government led by Moderates Party leader Ulf Kristersson.

It has approved Ulf Kristersson as its new Prime Minister as head of a three-party coalition, Sputnik reported.

Kristersson’s candidacy was supported by 176 lawmakers, 173 voted against, as broadcast by the parliament’s website.

Ulf Kristersson, the narrow victor at a general election on September 11, had stated on Friday that he had secured a deal to form a three-party government between his Moderate Party, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, supported in parliament by their key ally, the Sweden Democrats.

The Swedish parliament’s speaker, Andreas Norlén, had given Kristersson a deadline of October 14 to negotiate a coalition deal. In a press conference, Kristersson had said at the time that there were “some issues that we want to work a bit more on so we can announce everything together”. He stopped short of offering any details, saying, “I do not want to talk about any parts [of the deal] until I can talk about everything at once.”

ZZ/PR