The Prime Minister reshuffles government

After a series of scandals and falling poll numbers, the Swedish PM makes cautious moves to win fresh energy for the ruling minority coalition.  

  • In the press conference introducing his new cabinet Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said, "We will develop the Swedish model, not dismantle it."
  • Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven named Green Party spokesperson Isabella Lövin as new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for International Development and Climate in a mid-term cabinet reshuffle.
    Two years into a four-year term, voters have little faith in the coalition as a result of its hesitant response to the asylum crisis and a series of blunders by Green Party politicians. Peter Ericsson, a former spokesperson for the Green Party, was appointed as Housing Minister after the former minister, Mehmet Kaplan, was forced to quit in April. The post as EU minister will be mantled by the social democrat Ann Linde who's been State Secretary under the Minister of the Interior Anders Ygeman.
    "[The changes] mean that we will be able to deal with central questions such as schools, jobs, the environment, house building ... and the EU's future with renewed power. We will develop the Swedish model, not dismantle it," Löfven said at the press conference on May 25.

  • Recent polls show the Green Party just clearing the four percent hurdle for seats in parliament with the Social Democrats at around 26 percent, marginally larger than the Moderate Party. The four party center-right Alliance led by the moderates has received higher support than the present government coalition in most polls this year. It is only after the government imposed a very restrictive refugee policy that support for the Social Democrats began to regain some popularity.