The Prime Minister of Sweden, Stefan Lofven, announced on Monday his resignation, a week after losing a motion of censure in Parliament, without announcing a date for possible early elections in the European country.
“I have asked to be dismissed as prime minister,” Lofven has indicated, in a press conference in which he added that “with a year until the next elections and in the midst of a pandemic, early elections are not the best option for Sweden.”
“I have always said that we must look for what is best for the country, we cannot play political games. I am convinced that this is the best for the country,” he said, as reported by the Swedish newspaper ‘Aftonbladet’.
Thus, he said that this decision “is the most difficult” he has had to take to date and added that the speaker of Parliament “must begin the work to propose a prime minister who has the support of the Riksdag”.
Lofven, 63, explained that during the last week he has weighed up the possibility of calling early elections – which would have been the first in the country’s history – before stressing that he has ruled out this option in view of Sweden’s pandemic situation.
Therefore, it is in the hands of the President of the Parliament, Andreas Norlen, the process of finding a candidate who can form a government, for which he will initiate contacts with all parliamentary groups to find a prime minister in charge.
Lofven himself has left the door open for him to be the one chosen. “I am available to head a government that the Riksdag can accept,” he said, given the possibility of a coalition that would give him the necessary majority.
In this sense, the leader of the Moderate Party, Ulf Kristersson, has initiated contacts to try to assemble a coalition, as reported by the German news agency DPA. This party has been, together with Lofven’s Social Democrats, the main force in Parliament.
For its part, the Swedish Royal House has confirmed that King Carl Gustaf of Sweden had been previously informed of the decision. “The prime minister informed that he intended to ask the chairman of the Riksdag for his dismissal,” he has indicated through his account on the social network Facebook.
The motion of censure against Lofven was promoted by the Left Party on account of a disagreement over the regulations that would govern the price of rents in newly built apartments.
The initiative was used by other parties to bring down Lofven, who was at the head of a minority government. The proposal received the support of 181 deputies, six above the majority needed to carry the motion of censure.
In this regard, Lofven has criticized that the no-confidence motion was pushed through and passed without an alternative to his government. “There is no doubt that the Left Party’s actions have led to the current difficult situation,” he reiterated.
The next general election in Sweden is scheduled for September 2022 and will be held on that date, regardless of whether the current political situation eventually leads to early elections in the run-up.
