Prime Minister's NO: Sweden Democrats will not get 12 ministerial posts

Jimmie Åkesson, the leader of the Sweden Democrats, wants the number of ministerial posts in a future Tidö government, in the event of an election victory, to be distributed according to party size. Based on current polls, this could mean that the Sweden Democrats would get between 12 and 14 ministers if the Tidö parties win the election.

The question of what a future government should look like came up during Aftonbladet’s party leader interview on Wednesday. Åkesson was then asked about what level of representation the Sweden Democrats can expect if the Tidö parties manage to keep power after the election.

The SD leader believes that the starting point should be that ministerial posts are distributed proportionally between the parties, depending on their size. With today’s polling figures, according to his calculations, this would give the Sweden Democrats about 12–14 ministerial posts.

– Yes, that’s what it would be, as a starting point. But it’s not necessarily the case that one must claim all of them.

However, Åkesson’s statement does not mean that SD is demanding all the posts that such a proportional division would give the party in advance. At the same time, he has opened up for the possibility that some ministerial posts can be traded for influence over other political issues.

Kristersson, who has previously said that the Sweden Democrats should be part of the government if the Tidö parties win the election, does not want to commit to such a mathematical distribution.

When SVT asked the Prime Minister if there could be as many as twelve SD ministers in a government under his leadership, the answer was no.

– No, that won’t happen. Of course, everyone wants to be the biggest, the best, and the most impressive. But that’s not how it works. You negotiate both policy and ministerial posts once you’ve won an election; you don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

Kristersson also emphasizes that the matter is not decided by the parties pre-calculating how many ministerial posts they think they have a right to.

– No, you don’t start with the numbers. We have a government consisting of 24 ministers. It’s not going to be any bigger than that. Then you negotiate between different policy areas and various posts. You do that after the election, not before.

Meanwhile, the discussion about SD’s future influence within the government has become a recurring theme in the Social Democrats’ election campaign. S-leader Magdalena Andersson has on several occasions used the claim about twelve SD ministers to illustrate what she says is at stake in the election.

– This election is between a government led by me, and twelve Sweden Democrat ministers taking control of the government, resulting in a completely different Sweden, Andersson said at the time.