STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven resigned on Monday, one week after he lost a vote of no confidence, leaving it up to the speaker of parliament to begin the search for a replacement. After becoming the first Swedish government leader to be defeated by a no confidence vote, Lofven could have either resigned or called a snap election.

He told a press conference that a snap election was “not what is best for Sweden”, pointing to the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with the fact that the country’s next general election — which would go ahead regardless — is just year away. “With that starting point, I have requested the speaker to relieve me as prime minister,” Lofven said.

The Social Democrat leader — a master of consensus for some, a dull and visionless party man for others — had seven days after the confidence vote to try to secure a parliamentary majority.

The 63-year-old Lofven, a former welder and union leader with the square build and nose of a boxer, guided the Swedish left back to power in 2014, and then hung on by moving his party closer to the centre-right after the 2018 elections.

He finally fell out with the Left Party propping up his government, leading his downfall.

While the confidence motion was filed by the far-right Sweden Democrats (SD), it came after the Left Party said it was planning such a motion to protest a plan to ease rent controls.