Sweden’s caretaker leader knocked on the door to present a new government
Copenhagen, Denmark (AP) – Sweden’s guardian Prime Minister Stefan Lofven went one step closer to forming a new governing coalition on Monday after the country’s parliamentary speaker said that Lofven had enough support to form a two-party cabinet.
Speaker Andreas Norlen said that Lofven told him that he could find enough support in the Riksdag with 349 seats needed to form a cabinet. A vote in parliament on his government is set for Wednesday, and Lofven is expected to present his government on Friday.
– Stefan Lofven has a solution that can be tolerated by the Riksdag, Norlen said at a press conference. “I will therefore nominate Stefan Lofven as Prime Ministerial candidate.”
Monday’s development means that two groups, the Center Party and the Left Party, will abstain from voting against Lofven and two – his own Social Democrats and the Greens – will vote for him. This gives Lofven 175 legislators in the Riksdag – the exact number of seats needed to secure a majority.
In Sweden, prime ministers can rule as long as there is no majority against them.
Neither the centrists nor the left party are part of the caretaker government, but they have supported it.
Lofven, 63, lost a no-confidence vote on June 21 called by the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats. The move was successful because the Left Party, a government ally, had withdrawn its support for Lofven’s administration over proposed legislation to deal with housing shortages.
Until then, Lofven led a minority government consisting of a coalition between the Social Democrats and the Greens. His party has 100 seats out of 349 in parliament.
Lofven, who has served as Sweden’s head of government since 2014, will remain as caretaker minister until a new government is established.
Instead of announcing an early election, as the Swedish constitution allows him, Lofven chose the coalition-building process that Norlen monitors.
The first person who commissioned Norlen to try to form a new coalition government was the head of Sweden’s center-right opposition moderates, Ulf Kristersson. However, he failed and said he could only get 174 legislators behind him.
Sweden’s next general election is scheduled for September 11, 2022.