The vote of no confidence against Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari on her climate policy failed as the opposition Social Democrats abstained, splitting the opposition.
Sweden’s Centre Party (Renew Europe) and the Green Party requested that parliament dismiss Liberal Climate and Environment Minister Romina Pourmokhtari (Renew Europe) over the government’s climate action plan.
A few months after coming to power, Sweden’s centre-right government has been criticised for the results of its environmental policies. According to the Swedish Climate Policy Council’s annual assessment, Sweden is going backwards on greenhouse gas emissions while the EU is going forward.
However, the vote of confidence in Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari was a success for the government and a considerable defeat for the opposition as only 66 Swedish Members of Parliament, all from the Centre Party, the Green Party and the Left party (The Left), voted in favour.
175 were needed to reject Pourmokhtari.
The main reason why the vote of no-confidence failed was that the Social Democrats (S&D) abstained and the government parties, as expected, supported their minister.
“I feel very strengthened after this vote and now I know that we have a clear mandate in the House for the climate policy we are pursuing,” said Pourmokhtari.
“We can always do more,” she said when faced with criticism regarding her climate policy and the 2030 goals, naming initiatives such as restoring wetlands, developing electric aviation and converting the lorry fleet.
“We are making short-term efforts. But it is clear that we wish the climate crisis had been solved. There is a lot of work to be done”, she said.
Divided opposition in Parliament
According to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the vote only displays the opposition’s disunity on key issues.
“They go for Romina Pourmokhtari instead, which I think is strange and stupid, but it’s their own choice,” he said.
The Greens’ spokesperson Daniel Helldén indeed hoped for a united opposition, which could have put pressure on the Liberals to which minister Pourmokhtari belongs.
“I am surprised that the Social Democrats do not take the climate issue more seriously,” said Helldén.
Centre Party leader Muharrem Demirok also expressed his disappointment after the vote.
“It’s obvious that the climate crisis is part of a political game in this House, where the seriousness of the situation we are facing is not reflected”, he said, adding that the Swedish parliament deliberately “sent a bill to the future generations” that might be hard to pay.
Social Democrat leader and former Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson stressed that her party was deeply critical of the government’s climate policy, but that it had chosen to abstain to restrict the way such no-confidence votes are used in parliament.
“It is not the confidence in the government’s policies that is tested in such a vote”, Andersson said, adding that she “really doesn’t” trust the climate minister.
(Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)
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Source: euractiv.com
