Swedish PM voted out by parliament

stockholm — Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven lost a mandatory confidence vote in parliament on Tuesday meaning he will step down, but with neither major political bloc holding a majority it remained unclear who will form the next government.

Voters delivered a hung parliament in the September 9 election with Lofven’s centre-left bloc garnering 144 seats, one more than the centre-right opposition Alliance.

The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, with 62 seats, also backed the vote to remove Lofven.

Analysts expect the speaker to pick Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderate Party — the biggest Alliance party — to try to form a new government.

But with the Alliance in a minority, he needs support either from the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, shunned by all sides since the party entered parliament in 2010, or the centre left. —