Swedish Prime Minister Lofven resigns after no vote of confidence Politics News

Lofven is tasked with finding a new prime minister after a historic failure a week ago with housing market plans.

Sweden’s Social Democrat prime minister has resigned after seven years in power after losing a vote of confidence last week over a controversial plan to ease rent controls in apartments in the new building.

The resignation of Stefan Lofven on Monday means that the speaker of parliament is responsible for finding a new prime minister.

Lofven was the first Swedish leader to lose the vote of confidence in parliament on June 21 after the Left Party withdrew its support for its center-left government for housing market plans.

The left-wing party argued that deregulating the rental market would lead to rapid price increases and deepen the distinction between rich and poor.

The development provoked heated dialogue, with both the center-left and the center-right trying to gather enough support to form a government.

Lofven, who until Monday midnight to find new support in parliament, did not call an early election as the Swedish Constitution allows, and is now expected to continue vigilance until the new government is formed.

Andreas Norlen, the speaker of parliament from 2018, will ask the leaders of the parties that may be able to form the government. He alone decides whether the party leaders can start such talks.

Lofven, who is the leader of Sweden’s largest party with 100 out of Riksdagen’s 349 seats, will begin these talks.

A 63-year-old union leader and welder, Lofven has led a fragile minimum coalition with the Greens since 2018, with the support of two small center-right parties and the Left Party.

The center-left and center-right blocs are now balanced in parliament and polls show that the general election may not change the landscape.

It took four months for Lofven to form a government after the last general election in Sweden in 2018, which yielded inadequate results.

Housing crisis

The political drama is that Sweden is in the midst of a housing crisis and real estate prices are rising in the country.

The Lofven government favored the deregulation plan because prices accelerated in the pandemic.

Although Sweden has strict regulations on rents that aim to keep prices low in larger cities, this does not deter them from building new homes for the rental market.

People can wait for a lease for years, but buying a property is getting harder and harder as prices go up.