Sweden’s parliament has confirmed Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson as the country’s first female prime minister.
Andersson has earlier replaced Stefan Lofven as leader of the centre-left Social Democrats.
Sweden is the only Nordic country never to have elected a woman as national leader before.
Ms Andersson, who’s currently finance minister, did not win Wednesday’s vote.
However, she was elected because under Swedish law she only needed a majority of MPs not to vote against her.
A total of 117 members of parliament voted for her, while 174 voted against her. Fifty-seven abstained.
Andersson, who currently serves as Sweden’s finance minister, will formally take over as prime minister following a meeting with King Carl XVI Gustaf on Friday.
In October, Sweden has lifted all the COVID-19 restrictions, despite rising case numbers.
The Public Health Directorate declared limited COVID-19-related restrictions that began on June 1 and ended on Sept. 29.
Meanwhile, the Swedish Foreign Ministry announced in a separate statement a plan to lift all travel bans on Oct. 1, 2021.
After Denmark and Norway, Sweden is the third Scandinavian country to totally abolish coronavirus-related restrictions.
Sweden has been an outlier in aspects of its handling of the disease, shunning hard lockdowns throughout the pandemic.
