After a historic failure of plans for the real estate market a week ago, Lofven asked the Speaker to find a new Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister of Sweden’s Social Democratic Party, who resigned after seven years in power, lost a vote of confidence last week on a controversial plan to relax rent controls for new apartments.

Stefan Lofven’s resignation on Monday means that the speaker’s task now is to find a new prime minister.

On June 21, Lowen became the first Swedish leader to lose a vote of confidence in Parliament after the Left Party withdrew its support for the housing market plan of the left-wing government.

The left-wing party believes that lifting the control of the rental market will lead to rapid price increases and deepen the divide between rich and poor.

This development triggered fierce negotiations as both the center-left and the center-right tried to get enough support to form a government.

Lofven did not find new support in Parliament until midnight on Monday, and did not require early elections as permitted by the Swedish Constitution. He is now expected to continue his role as a caretaker until a new government can be formed.

The Speaker of Parliament since 2018, Andreas Norlen, will ask about party leaders who might be able to form a government. He alone decides which party leaders can start these talks.

It is expected that Lofven, the leader of Sweden’s largest political party, who holds 100 of the 349 seats in the Swedish Parliament, will begin these talks.

As a 63-year-old former union boss and welder, Lofven has led a fragile minority alliance with the Green Party since 2018, relying on the support of two small center-right parties and the left-wing party.

The center-left and center-right groups are now balanced in parliament, and opinion polls show that the general election may not change the situation.

After the last general election in Sweden in 2018, Lowen spent four months forming a government, but the results are still inconclusive.

Real estate crisis

At the time of the political drama, Sweden is in the midst of a housing crisis, and real estate prices in the country are skyrocketing.

The Lofven government supports the deregulation plan because of price increases during the pandemic.

Although Sweden has strict rules on rents designed to maintain affordable prices in big cities, this prevents real estate developers from building new homes for the rental market.

People may find that they have to wait for years to sign a lease, and as prices rise, it becomes more and more difficult to buy a property.