Sweden: a government is finally formed

Stefan Löfven of the Social Democrats won a second term as Prime Minister of Sweden. It took over 4 months for the Swedes to form a government. Why did it take so long?

Here's a summary of seat totals between the two major blocs (Centre-left and Alliance) and the Sweden Democrats.

Centre-left bloc parties (144 total seats):

Social Democrats (100 seats)
Left Party (28)
Green Party (16)

Alliance parties (143 total seats):

Moderates (70)
Centre Party (31)
Christian Democrats (22)
Liberals (20)

Sweden Democrats (62)

The problem is that in Sweden an alliance needs 175 votes to win a majority rule. Neither bloc had 175 votes and neither were willing to form a government with the far-right Sweden Democrats. Another option is the minority government, which is what happened.

So how was Stefan Löfven able to form a government? The Guardian provides the details:

Löfven’s second attempt was approved because although only 115 MPs voted in favour and 153 against, with 77 abstentions, there was no majority against him. Under Swedish law, prime ministers can govern as long as a majority in parliamentary do not actively vote against them. The former welder and trade union leader succeeded in peeling the Centre and Liberal parties away from their centre-right bloc by offering major concessions, promising notably to cut taxes, reform the rental housing market and relax Sweden’s strict employment laws.



Though it appears that not all members of the parties voted the same, here is how the parties voted:

Social Democrats and Greens voted in favor.

Moderates, Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats voted against.

Left Party, Centre Party and Liberals voted to abstain.

So the Guardian quote answers a question I've had. I wasn't sure how a minority government formed. I figured that you'd need the minority government to have more votes then those who voted against them. And remaining votes would be abstains. In the above actual vote count, my initial thinking was that a minority government wouldn't be able to form because 153 voted against and 115 for.

Actually, based on the Guardian, a minority government can form just as long as the majority (175) don't vote against it forming.

The Guardian does point out; however (and this is obvious if one has kept up with events), that the Left Party could decide it will vote against the government should it feel there is too far of a move to the right. I suppose, also, that the Centre party and Liberals could vote against the government if they feel it is moving too far to the left. If either of these happened, the government would fall.

To me, this may mean that nothing really happens in Sweden (politically) until the next election.