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| - Sweden's minority government could be toppled next week after four parties in parliament announced Thursday that they would back a no confidence vote, potentially triggering a snap election. Parliament speaker Andreas Norlen confirmed the vote will be held next Monday. The far-right Sweden Democrats (SD) party said it hoped the government would fall ahead of the next general election, scheduled for September 2022. The Left Party, which has regularly supported the government, announced it would join the SD in backing the no-confidence vote, in protest against a government project to ease rent controls, denouncing the move as an attack on the Swedish social model. The conservative Moderate Party and the Christian Democrats also backed the SD move, effectively securing a parliamentary majority for the no confidence motion. "There is now a majority in parliament that wants to dismiss the prime minister," Henrik Vinge, the SD parliament group leader, told a press conference. But Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said later Thursday: "To throw Sweden into a political crisis in this dire situation for the country, that is not responsible." Addressing a news conference, the Social Democrat stressed that Sweden was still in the midst of a pandemic and resulting economic crisis. "We were against the Lofven government when they took power. We were against the Lofven government then, we are against (it) now," Ebba Busch, leader of the Christian Democrats, told reporters. Moderate Party leader Ulf Kristersson echoed Busch. "Our opinion is very clear, this government should never have taken office," Kristersson wrote on Facebook. The minority government took power in 2019 after months of political turmoil following inconclusive elections in 2018. To secure power it inked a deal with two centre-left parties, the Centre Party and the Liberals, and was propped up by the Left Party. The deal included proposals for several liberal market reforms, including a government inquiry into allowing landlords to freely set rents for new apartments. "I have no choice but to go for a vote of no confidence," Left Party leader Nooshi Dadgostar told the Aftonbladet newspaper late Thursday. "Someone has to stand up for Sweden's tenants," Dadgostar told a press conference earlier in the day, adding that it wasn't an "easy announcement". The Left Party has in the past issued several ultimatums to the government, threatening action, but has not gone this far until now. Lofven noted that the parties had decided to move forward without a common plan for his successor. "These four parties now owe the Swedish people a proposal for what their government alternative is," he said. The prime minister also played down the row over housing policy, noting that new apartments account for less than one percent of rented housing in Sweden. Centre Party leader Annie Loof expressed support for the government. "SD and the Left Party are now locking arms, even though they disagree on where they are going," se wrote on Twitter. To topple Lofven, the parties, which together have 181 seats in the 349-member parliament, will need to secure 175 votes. If they succeed, it would be unprecedented in Sweden, whose parliament has held 11 unsuccessful votes of no confidence over the past four decades. If the vote passes, Lofven would have a week to decide whether to call a new election or just resign. The speaker would then launch negotiations with parties to find a new candidate for prime minister -- an exercise that took four months in the wake of the 2018 election. jll-map/pvh/kjl
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