Sweden moves towards minority centre-left government

Sweden took one step closer to a new centre-left government after Social Democrat leader Stefan Löfven announced his intention yesterday to form a minority government with the Green Party.

The September 14th election left the two parties with 38 per cent of the vote, requiring opposition party support – or abstentions – on important government proposals.

Before taking over as prime minister Mr Lövfen must be elected in parliament, a vote not expected to take place before next Thursday. “I am convinced that I can present a government and later a budget that will be approved by parliament,” said Mr Löfven, a former union official with no parliamentary or political experience.

With coalition talks still ongoing with the Greens, no announcement was made yesterday of cabinet posts. Sweden’s centre-right parties, ousted after eight years in power, announced that they will abstain in the vote on Mr Lövfen’s election while political observers suggest the new government can pull together enough support to pass the budget.

Crucial to the government’s longevity will be how much it can depend on the the Left Party, the former Communist Party. Left in opposition by Mr Lövfen, after disagreements over privatisation and profit in the public sector, the Left Party is still negotiating the terms of its support for the new government’s budget and beyond.

It remains unclear how the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, the third largest parliamentary grouping ostracised by all other parties, will vote on Mr Löfven’s budget. Failing to pass the budget would, in all likelihood, bring down the new government and trigger fresh elections.