Swedish conservatives agree on a minority government that excludes the far right

Sweden Democrats will have no ministers, but will be key to survival of new Executive

The leader of Sweden’s Moderate Party, Ulf Kristersson, announced Friday an agreement to form a minority coalition government, of which Sweden Democrats, the far-right formation that became in the September elections the second most voted, only behind the Social Democrats, will not be part.

Kristersson, who on Wednesday had asked for two more days to finalize the details of this agreement, appeared before the media accompanied by the leaders of the other four parties that will allow political change in the Nordic country, governed in recent years by the Social Democratic Party of the incumbent Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson.

The moderates will share cabinet with the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats, while the far right will serve as external support. Its support is key to the viability of the new government and, although it will not have ministries, it will have room for appointments in this new stage.

“The Government will work closely with the Sweden Democrats in Parliament and the Sweden Democrats will have a coordination office in Government offices,” explained Kristersson, at the end of weeks of negotiations and before presenting this agreement to the Speaker of the House, Andreas Norlen.

The leader of the Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson, has recognized that he would have liked to be part of the Government, but has claimed his capacity of influence in search of a “change of paradigm”, according to the SVT channel. Among the first tasks, he has already established the reduction of immigration, one of the main axes of his campaign.

After the joint appearance before the media, Kristersson has met with the president of the Parliament, who in a statement has confirmed that he will present the moderate leader as the final candidate for prime minister. The vote will take place on Monday at 11.00 and, the following day, the new cabinet members are scheduled to be sworn in.

The outgoing prime minister has seen it as a good thing that Sweden can count on a fully functioning government in the coming days, although she also said that the negotiations in recent weeks have revolved more around “internal problems” of the right-wing coalition than the needs of the country.

Likewise, in a post on Instagram, he has warned that although Kristersson will be the prime minister, “it is Jimmie Akesson who governs.”