Yesterday, the Swedish media reported that the Speaker of the Swedish Parliament, the Riksdag, had a secret plan. Speaker of the Riksdag, Andreas Norlén wanted to involve King Carl XVI Gustaf in the current ongoing government crisis. His plan was that the King could appoint a new Prime Minister.
Norlén, who represents Östergötland County, is an important member of the Swedish Moderate Party. This is why he remarked that he believed the best thing to do is to have a person who is not bound in politics to promote a new Prime Minister.
Norlén said: “The Speaker is a politician and can, therefore, be suspected of favouring his own party members.”
The first time Norlén promoted the idea was in 2007 together with other Swedish politicians, Annicka Engblom from the Conservatives, Yvonne Andersson from the Christian Democratic Party and Camilla Lindberg from the Liberal Party. In 2007, Norlén argued that in almost every other monarchy in the western world, the monarch nominates a new prime minister whenever needed. Moreover, he claimed that Sweden should do it, as well.
Andreas Norlén together with His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden. Photo: Kungahuset.se / The Royal Court.
Norlén wrote in 2007: “We believe that Sweden should join these other countries and let the monarch take over the role of the Speaker in the work described in Chapter 6, Section 2, first paragraph, of the Constitution. Thus, the monarch would call the parties’ representatives for consultation and, on the basis of the results of these consultations, decide for whom the monarch should propose prime minister”.
On 2 October and 15 November this year, Andreas Norlén visited the Royal Palace to inform the King about the government process. Sweden is currently in crisis because there has been no solution to establish a new government following this autumn’s election. On Wednesday this week, Andreas Norlén told the Swedish newspaper Expressen that he has changed his view on this issue and no longer wants to involve His Majesty in the establishment of new governments.
One month ago, Björn Söder, former second vice-president, said the same as Andreas Norlén in 2007. He said that the King should take over the responsibility for proposing a new prime minister for the parliament to vote on.
