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2021 Swedish government crisis

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The 2021 Swedish government crisis started on 21 June 2021 after the Riksdag ousted Prime Minister Stefan Löfven with a no-confidence vote.[1][2] This was the first time in Swedish history a Prime Minister was ousted by a no-confidence vote.[3][4] In 2014 after winning the general elections, Löfven's government budget was rejected by the Riksdag causing a government crisis that lasted for nearly an entire month.[5] The 2021 government crisis is the second government crisis with a Löfven cabinet.

On 17 June 2021, the Sweden Democrats called the vote after the Swedish Left Party withdrew support for Löfven over the rent control reforms which is an important issue for many voters.[6] He now has one week to resign or declare a snap election.[7]

Background

After the 2018 Swedish general election, the Social Democratic Party together with the Green Party joined together with Centre Party and Liberal Party to form the January agreement (Swedish: Januariavtalet).[8] This agreement gained support from the Left Party who weren't part of the agreement. The agreement stated that the Social Democratic Party and Green Party would form the government with the support from the Centre Party and Liberal Party who would have some of their political programme adopted by the government. The January agreement consists of 73 points ranging from immigration policy to housing policy. The Left Party were heavily against two points in the agreement, a proposal to change the law of employment protection act,[9] and another point which would introduce market rents (i.e. the end of rent control) for new-build apartments,[10] the latter of which is the main cause to the uprising of the government crisis. Both of these points were conditions of the Centre and Liberal Parties during the negotiations,[11][12][13] rather than Social Democratic or Green Party policy. As early as 2018, the then party leader of the Left Party, Jonas Sjöstedt said that they would not hesitate to declare a no-confidence vote against the government if they were to introduce a bill on market rents,[14] and this threat was repeated when voting to make Löfven Prime Minister.[15]

On 8 June 2021, the report of government's commission on removing rent controls on new-build apartments was concluded and delivered to the government.[13] On 15 June 2021 the Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar called a press conference and gave the government a 48 hour ultimatum; to scrap the proposed law.[16] On 17 June, the government had not said a word and Dadgostar announced that they no longer had confidence in the government.[17] Jimmie Åkesson, the party leader of the Sweden Democrats gave his support to Dadgostar and shortly thereafter a vote was called by the Sweden Democrats to the Speaker of the Riksdag.[18][19] Both leaders of the opposition parties Moderate Party and Christian Democrats announced that they also had no confidence in the sitting government.[20] This meant there was a majority in the Swedish Riksdag that had no confidence in Stefan Löfven and a successful no-confidence vote was imminent.[21][22][23]

Vote

On 21 June 2021, the no-confidence vote took place and Stefan Löfven was ousted by a majority of the Swedish Riksdag.[2][4] Because of the COVID-19 pandemic only 55 members of the Swedish Parliament were allowed to partake in a vote in the chamber. According to the Basic Laws of Sweden, there has to be at least 175 yes-votes from the members of the parliament for a Prime Minister to be ousted. Because of this, the "55-rule" was not applied for this vote and all 349 members of the Swedish Parliament had to be present for the vote, unless symptoms of Covid-19 were present at the time. The decision to have all 349 members present was criticized by Swedish media personalities who meant this vote could become a superspreading event of Covid-19.[24] Some members of parliament were hesitant to the decision and called it "unpleasant" and "uncomfortable" that there was a slight risk of sick people not staying home during the vote.[25] Prior to the vote, the Speaker of the Riksdag called in the Parliamentary leaders for every Swedish party to discuss how the vote would take place. Johan Carlson, director general for the Public Health Agency of Sweden said that the strategy that was put forward were well thought out and reasonable for the occasion.[26]

The Swedish Riksdag previously had a recommendation in place on wearing face masks in the building, however this recommendation was abolished on 14 June 2021 and put into effect on 18 June 2021.[26] For the vote on 21 June 2021, the recommendation was put into place once again temporarily.[27]

The vote took place on 21 June 2021 at 10:00 AM (CEST),[28] and a majority of the members of parliament voted yes to oust Löfven. This was the first time a Swedish Prime Minister lost a vote of confidence in the Swedish Riksdag.[29] Löfven now has one week to resign or declare a snap election.[7] If Löfven resigns, the Speaker of the Riksdag, Andreas Norlén has to find a candidate for the Prime Minister position that can be supported by a majority of the Swedish Riksdag. If Löfven decides to declare a snap election, it has to take place within the next three months and the local elections will still take place in 2022.[30] Löfven will still be the interim Prime Minister until a new government can be appointed.[citation needed]

Results from the no-confidence vote[31]
Parties Yes No Refrain Absent
Swedish Social Democratic Party (S) style="background:Template:Swedish Social Democratic Party/meta/color;" | 0 94 0 6
Moderate Party (M) style="background:Template:Moderate Party/meta/color;" | 70 0 0 0
Sweden Democrats (SD) style="background:Template:Sweden Democrats/meta/color;" | 62 0 0 0
Centre Party (Sweden) (C) style="background:Template:Centre Party (Sweden)/meta/color;" | 0 0 30 1
Left Party (Sweden) (V) style="background:Template:Left Party (Sweden)/meta/color;" | 27 0 0 0
Christian Democrats (Sweden) (KD) style="background:Template:Christian Democrats (Sweden)/meta/color;" | 22 0 0 0
Liberals (L) style="background:Template:Liberals (Sweden)/meta/color;" | 0 0 19 0
Green Party (Sweden) (MP) style="background:Template:Green Party (Sweden)/meta/color;" | 0 15 0 1
IND. 0 0 2 0
Total result from vote
Total 181 109 51 8

References

  1. ^ "Sweden faces political uncertainty as PM Lofven ousted by parliament". Reuters. 21 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b Radio, Sveriges. "Stefan Löfven fälls av riksdagen - Nyheter (Ekot)". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Historiskt: Riksdagen saknar förtroende för Stefan Löfven". bulletin.nu (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Regeringen faller efter historisk omröstning". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Regeringskrisen stor nyhet i Norden". DN.SE (in Swedish). 2 December 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  6. ^ "Swedish PM faces no-confidence vote, what happens now?". Reuters. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Regeringen Löfven har fällts – detta händer nu". Omni (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  8. ^ "Sakpolitisk överenskommelse mellan Socialdemokraterna, Centerpartiet, Liberalerna och Miljöpartiet de gröna". www.socialdemokraterna.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Sjöstedt (V) hotar fälla regeringen efter las-förslag – Arbetet" (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  10. ^ Regeringskansliet, Regeringen och (4 June 2021). "Fri hyressättning vid nyproduktion". Regeringskansliet (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Morgan Johansson om utredningen av fri hyressättning". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). 4 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  12. ^ "Han var med när Löfven offrade sin sista heliga ko: "Försökte svälta ut oss"". Sveriges Television (in Swedish). 5 May 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Förslaget: Fri hyressättning från juli nästa sommar". Sveriges Television (in Swedish). 18 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  14. ^ Juhlin (17 June 2021). "Fri hyressättning i nyproduktion – så ser konflikten ut". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Jonas Sjöstedt: "Införs marknadshyror, då smäller det"". Sveriges Television (in Swedish). 17 January 2019. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  16. ^ Radio, Sveriges. "Vänstern kräver besked om marknadshyror inom 48 timmar - Nyheter (Ekot)". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  17. ^ Thomsen, Dante (17 June 2021). "Vänsterpartiet har inte förtroende för Stefan Löfven – kommer söka stöd för att fälla regeringen". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  18. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Ledamöter begär misstroendeförklaring mot statsminister Stefan Löfven (S)". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  19. ^ Juhlin (17 June 2021). "Efter V:s hot: SD yrkar på misstroende mot Stefan Löfven". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Moderaterna redo att rösta nej till regeringen Löfven – meddelar Ulf Kristersson". nyheter24.se (in Swedish). 17 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  21. ^ "Riksdagsmajoritet för att fälla Sveriges regering – Löfven: Inte ansvarsfullt att rösta om förtroende nu". svenska.yle.fi (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  22. ^ "Sweden's government could be about to collapse in a row over rent". euronews. 18 June 2021. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  23. ^ "Swedish PM Proposes Last-Ditch Solution to Save His Government". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 21 June 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ "Omröstningen kan bli en superspridare av covid". www.aftonbladet.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  25. ^ Radio, Sveriges. "Alla 349 ledamöter kallade till riksdagen – "Olustigt" - Nyheter (Ekot)". sverigesradio.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  26. ^ a b "Så ska måndagens omröstning smittsäkras". HD (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Nytt munskyddskrav för att skydda politikerna". Omni (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  28. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Talmannen meddelar tidpunkt för misstroendeomröstning". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  29. ^ V. Nyheter, S. (21 June 2021). "Regeringen Löfven (S) har fallit". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Regeringen Löfven har fällts – detta händer nu". Omni (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
  31. ^ Riksdagsförvaltningen. "Riksdagen riktar en misstroendeförklaring mot statsminister Stefan Löfven (S)". www.riksdagen.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 21 June 2021.
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