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Swedish PM Lofven ousted in no confidence vote | Swedish PM Lofven ousted in no confidence vote |
(35 minutes later) | |
Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven will have to stand down after losing the support of parliament. | Sweden's prime minister Stefan Lofven will have to stand down after losing the support of parliament. |
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) backed the vote to remove him, weeks after a general election that delivered a hung parliament. | |
In Tuesday's dramatic vote, 204 MPs voted against Mr Lofven while 142 voted in favour. | In Tuesday's dramatic vote, 204 MPs voted against Mr Lofven while 142 voted in favour. |
Parliament's speaker will now propose a new leader - a process that could take weeks. | Parliament's speaker will now propose a new leader - a process that could take weeks. |
Mr Lofven is expected to stay on as caretaker prime minister while his replacement is decided on. | |
What happens next? | |
Mr Lofven, the leader of the centre-left Social Democrats, came to power in 2014. His centre-left alliance won 144 seats in this month's election, one more than the centre-right opposition. | |
Neither of the main blocs intends to govern with the nationalist SD, the third-largest party in the new parliament. | Neither of the main blocs intends to govern with the nationalist SD, the third-largest party in the new parliament. |
But the job of prime minister could fall to Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderates. The new speaker of the parliament, Andreas Norlen, is also a member of the Moderates, confirmed in the position on Monday with the support of SD. | |
While the SD are expected to back a Moderate candidate, Mr Lofven warned the centre-right bloc on Tuesday against relying on the support of a party "founded by Nazis". | While the SD are expected to back a Moderate candidate, Mr Lofven warned the centre-right bloc on Tuesday against relying on the support of a party "founded by Nazis". |
While Mr Kristersson is widely seen as the person most likely to form a new government, others may be invited to do so if he fails - including Mr Lofven himself. | |
The splintered nature of the house makes securing a stable government tricky, because: | |
If there are four unsuccessful attempts to form a government, that will trigger fresh elections - something which has never happened before. | |
What has the fallout been? | |
Speaking after the vote, Mr Lofven, who is still the leader of the largest party, said he intended to work to form another government across the political divide. | |
"I see good opportunities to continue as prime minister," he said. | "I see good opportunities to continue as prime minister," he said. |
Mr Lofven said he did not believe that fresh elections were something voters wanted - but he said he would never support a government that relied on the SD. | |
His opponent and new favourite for the premiership, Ulf Kristersson, said that a new government was needed - one with broad political support. |