Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden
| Deputy to the Prime Minister of Sweden Statsministerns ställföreträdare |
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Lesser coat of arms of Sweden
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| Appointer | The Prime Minister |
| Term length | No fixed term, Serves at the pleasure of the Prime Minister |
| Inaugural holder | Gunnar Sträng |
| Formation | January 1, 1975 |
| Website | www.sweden.gov.se |
The Swedish constitution allows the Prime Minister to appoint one of the Ministers in the cabinet as Deputy Prime Minister (statsministers ställföreträdare, sometimes unofficially known as vice statsminister), in case the Prime Minister for some reason is prevented from performing his or her duties. However, if a Deputy Prime Minister has not been appointed, the Minister in the cabinet who has served the longest time (and if there are several with equal experience the one who is oldest) takes over as head of government (these are marked in italic in the table below).
A Deputy Prime Minister can only serve as Prime Minister in a temporary function, as the resignation of a Prime Minister automatically includes the entire cabinet, and the Instrument of Government of Sweden requires the Speaker of the Riksdag to dismiss the cabinet in the case of the death of the Prime Minister.
Historically, under the 1809 Instrument of Government the Minister for Foreign Affairs (the "second excellency" and to date the only formal "minister" save for the Prime Minister, the other cabinet members' formal title being Councillor of State for... etc) was to function as acting Prime Minister should the Prime Minister not be able not to perform his duties. With the enactment of the 1974 Instrument of Government and the inauguration of Thorbjörn Fälldin's three-party cabinet in 1976, Per Ahlmark was formally sworn in as the first to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister.
In 1986 Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson became acting Prime Minister for the transitional cabinet from March 1 to March 12, upon the assassination of Olof Palme, the only time the death of the Prime Minister has caused the Deputy Prime Minister to temporarily assume the office. Carlsson subsequently received the task of forming a new cabinet from the Speaker of the Riksdag. The cabinet was approved by the Riksdag on March 12, 1986, effectively reappointing most cabinet members in their previous offices.
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Wikipedia