Sweden’s Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, will have to stand down after losing the support of parliament.
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats (SD) backed the vote to remove him, weeks after a general election that delivered a hung parliament.
Lofven was opposed by 204 MPs, with 142 voting in favour.
The parliamentary speaker will now propose a new prime minister, with centre-right leader Ulf Kristersson seen as the most likely candidate. Lofven is expected to stay on as caretaker prime minister while his replacement is decided, in a process that could take weeks.
Lofven, the leader of the Social Democrats, came to power in 2014. In this month’s election, his centre-left bloc won 144 seats, one more than the centre-right bloc led by Kristersson.
Neither of the blocs intends to govern with the SD, the third-largest party in the new parliament with 62 seats.
A member of Kristersson’s Moderate party, Andreas Norlen, was confirmed as the parliament’s new speaker on Monday, with the support of SD. (BBC)
