Sweden’s parliament approved finance minister and Social Democratic Party leader Magdalena Andersson as the country’s prime minister but she then quit hours later, The Associated Press reported.Andersson suffered a defeat in parliament with the budget, according to the Associated Press. She stepped down seven hours after earning the title of first female prime minister.
The budget proposal put forth by the opposition party was passed instead.
”For me, it is about respect, but I also do not want to lead a government where there may be grounds to question its legitimacy,” Andersson said at a press conference, according to the AP.
While the country had yet to have a female prime minister before Andersson, the current government describes itself as “feminist, putting equality between women and men at the heart of national and international work,” The AP added.
Some in the country took issue with the long-running absence of a woman in the nation’s top leadership role, however.
“If women are only allowed to vote but are never elected to the highest office, democracy is not complete,” independent lawmaker Amineh Kakabaveh said in a speech to the country’s parliament, according to The AP.
“There is something symbolic in this decision. Feminism is always about girls and women being complete people who have the same opportunities as men and boys,” she added.
Kakabaveh supported Andersson in her bid to become the nation’s prime minister, citing her efforts as championing “equal suffrage.”
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