STOCKHOLM. The Social Democratic Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, was disheartened by the Swedish Parliament. The government has fallen, and this is the first time this has happened in the country. The extreme left together with the neo-fascists voted for confidence on the wave of the issue of state-controlled rents, threatened by Lofven himself. The premier – who had allied himself with the Liberals and the Greens, plus the external support of the left – had opened up to the idea of following the laws of the market for all new housing from now on. A turnaround that triggered the political confrontation.
Now Lovfen has a week to resign or call new elections. It is unlikely that a new coalition will be reached directly, also because both the Conservatives and the Christian Democrats have supported the no-confidence motion.
No confidence was voted by 181 out of 349 deputies. Voting in favor, after the Left Party withdrew external support from the executive following the controversy over the liberalization of rental prices for newly built houses, were the nationalist party of the Swedish Democrats, which proposed the no-confidence motion, and the right (conservative party of moderates and Christian Democrats), to which the former Communist Party was added.
Coming to power in 2014, Lofven has demonstrated a great ability to survive political crises in recent years. His second government took office on January 21, 2019 after months of instability following the inconclusive outcome of the September 2018 elections, when the boom in Swedish Democrats made it difficult to build a majority that excluded them. Lovfen’s socialist party went to government with the Greens and the Liberals, a minority executive that had received external support from the Left Party, which later became increasingly impatient with the liberal economic reforms launched by the executive.
The Left Party had already threatened in the past to withdraw support for Lovfen in the absence of a change of gear on the economic front. If Lovfen, who has called a press conference, decides to resign, the president of parliament will start negotiations to find a new premier.