Swedish PM brought down by far-right MPs

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven was ousted in a no-confidence vote yesterday, adding to uncertainty over who will lead the country.

In the vote, 204 MPs opposed Mr Lofven while 142 supported him.

He remained optimistic of forming a governing coalition, saying: “I am available for talks.”

The Swedish general election on September 9 resulted in a hung parliament. Mr Lofven’s party, the Social Democrats, had its worst results in a century, falling short of the 175 seats needed for a majority, with only 144.

The far-right anti-immigration party Sweden Democrats sided with the centre-right Alliance and yesterday voted to remove Mr Lofven.

“Our previous position that we do not have confidence in him remains,” Sweden Democrat legislator Mattias Karlsson said before the vote.

The Sweden Democrats promised to vote down any government that did not give them influence over policy, particularly with regards to immigration.

Ulf Kristersson, leader of the second largest party, the Moderates, previously rejected a proposal to form a coalition with Mr Lofven as leader.

As a rival for premier, he was likely to vote against the Social Democrat leader.

“I think that the Alliance has the best potential to form a government, that has not changed,” Mr Kristersson said.

“But there are many obstacles in the way and there are a number of steps before we get there.”

Mr Lofven will now lead a caretaker government pending a governing coalition.

A collaboration between the centre-right bloc and the Sweden Democrats remains unlikely.

To avoid relying on the far-right party, the Alliance wants to lead a coalition with the Social Democrats but Mr Lofven has already rejected this proposal.