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After nearly seven years in power, the leader of the Social Democratic Party failed because of a plan to relax rent controls on newly built apartments.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven was defeated in the vote of no confidence, giving the Social Democratic leader a week to resign and hand over to the Speaker the search for a new government or early elections.
After the left-wing party withdrew its support for the center-left government’s plan to relax rent controls on new apartments, the nationalist Sweden Democrats seized the opportunity to vote in Monday’s parliament.
Sweden is in the midst of a housing crisis, and real estate prices in the country are skyrocketing.
Lofven, 63, has served as prime minister since 2014 and was the first Swedish prime minister to lose in the no-confidence motion.
The leader of the Swedish Democratic Party, Jimmy Axon, told parliament that the government is harmful and historically weak, adding: “It should not come to power.”
The bill requires 175 votes in the 349-seat parliament to pass, and it has the support of 181 lawmakers.
Left-wing parties accuse Lowen
Since the tense elections in 2018, the shaky minority alliance between Lovewen and the Green Party has relied on the support of two small center-right parties and the left-wing party.
The Left Party blamed Lowen for the crisis.
“It is not that the Left Party has abandoned the Social Democratic government, but the Social Democratic Government has abandoned the Left Party and the Swedish people,” said Nooshi Dadgostar, leader of the Left Party.
As the parliament is deadlocked, it is not clear who the speaker might turn to to form a new government if Lofven resigns.
Opinion polls show that the center-left and center-right camps are balanced, so early elections may not bring clarity.
Dadgostar said that although her party voted against Lofven, it will never help the “right-wing nationalist government” to come to power.
The new government or caretaker government can only wait until the parliamentary elections to be held in September next year.
Housing market issues
At the center of the controversy is the plan to loosen the controls on the Swedish real estate market because of price increases during the pandemic.
Sweden has strict rules on rents designed to maintain affordable prices in big cities. However, this prevents real estate developers from building new homes for the rental market.
People may find that they have to wait for years to sign a lease, and as prices rise, it becomes more and more difficult to buy a property.
Sweden has strict rules on rents, but this prevents developers from building new houses [File: Simon Johnson/Reuters]
The left-wing party is worried that the relaxation of the leasing market will lead to rapid price increases and increased polarization between the rich and the poor.
Last weekend, Lofven held a last-minute meeting to seek a majority in parliament to support his rent reform plan.
On Sunday, he hopes to soften reforms by inviting landlords and tenants to organize meetings.
However, Dagosta supported the left-wing party’s decision to oppose Lovevin and said his efforts were “a political show.”
“We did something politically considered unusual… to keep our promises,” she said.
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