No-confidence vote brings down Sweden’s govt
STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s government was toppled on Monday after Stefan Lofven became the country’s first prime minister to lose a no-confidence vote. He can now either resign or trigger a snap election.
The motion of no confidence was filed on Thursday by the far-right Sweden Democrats, after the Left Party, which has been propping up the government, said it was planning such a motion itself in protest against a government plan to ease rent controls. The conservative Moderate Party and the Christian Democrats were quick to back the motion, which was passed by 181 MPs in the 349-seat parliament.
Critics have described the constellation as an “unholy alliance” of parties at opposite ends of the political spectrum.
After 11 unsuccessful no-confidence votes in modern Swedish political history, Lofven, who has previously distinguished himself by his ability to survive political crises, becomes the first head of government to
be ousted in this way.
Lofven, leader of the Social Democrats and PM since 2014, has a week to either announce a snap election or resign, leaving it up to the speaker of parliament, Andreas Norlen, to open negotiations with the parties to find a new prime minister.
Speaking after the vote, Lofven said he had a week to speak with other parties and to evaluate his options. He added that his focus would remain doing “what is best for Sweden”. Should he leave it up to Norlen to find a new PM, many analysts feel there is a chance Lofven could be chosen again.