Sweden’s parliament on Monday elected conservative leader Ulf Kristersson as prime minister at the head of a center-right coalition that has promised to crack down on crime and curtail immigration in partnership with a populist party with far-right roots.
Kristersson, 58, was elected in a 176-173 vote and will present his government on Tuesday.
His three-party coalition secured a majority in the 349-seat Riksdag, or parliament, after the Sept. 11 election by teaming up with the Sweden Democrats, a party founded by right-extremists in the 1980s. The party has softened its image and moved toward the mainstream, but was until recently considered too radical to work with by all other parliamentary groups.
Kristersson presented a deal last week whereby his conservative Moderate Party will form a government with the smaller Christian Democrats and Liberals, while coordinating government policies closely with the Sweden Democrats, which won 20% of the vote to become Sweden’s second-biggest party.
