Swedish Left Party opens way to Social Democratic government

The leader of the Swedish The Left Party Jonas Sjöstedt said its party will abstain in the vote to elect Social Democratic Party leader, Stefan Löfven, as PM.

The leader of the Swedish Left Party (direct heir of the former Communist Party), announced in a press article that his political group will abstain on Friday in the vote of Stefan Löfven as Prime Minister.

The decision opens the way for the Swedish Social Democracy to continue ruling the country for the next four years, and closes the government crisis opened by the election results of 9 September. The country was left in a vacuum of government for 138 days, the longest in its history.

However, the decision of The Left to abstain in the parliamentary vote is conditioned by the statement that they will be "the opposition of the left" and that they will only support the new government if it does not cross certain "red lines", which according to what Jonas Sjöstendt wrote, would be the policies of housing rent and job security. At the same time The Left reaffirmed to be openly against xenophobia and racism.

The abstention of the parliamentary group The Left, which has 28 deputies, will allow the social democratic leader to assume executive power with the 100 deputies of his party, and those of his coalition allies, 16 of the Greens, 20 of the Liberals and 31 of the so-called Center.

The meditated decision of The Left will also leave out of any equation of government the ultra-right and xenophobic Swedish Democrats, which already counts with 62 deputies.

Sweden therefore will be, for now, the only "Nordic country" where the far right is not part of the government.