Swedish PM Stefan Lofven to step down in November

Stefan Lofven Swedens Social Democratic prime minister since 2014 said Sunday that he will step down as head of government and the party in NovemberThe unexpected announcement mdash made during his annual summer speech mdash came ahead of next years general election and after Lofven in June became the first Swedish leader ever to lose a motion in parliamentLofven said he had informed the party ldquothat I want to leave my position as party chairman at the party congress in November and then also ask to be dismissed as prime ministerrdquoHe said being prime minister and head of the Social Democrats have been fantastic yearsrdquoldquoBut everything has an end and I want to give my successor the very best conditionsrdquo the 63yearold Lofven saidAlso ReadUK will work with Taliban if necessary says Prime Minister Boris JohnsonSteeping down is ldquonot easy but rightrdquo Lofven said adding there also was ldquoa little sadness tooIt was not immediately clear who would replace Lofven Since 2012 he has been head of the Social Democrats Swedens largest party that currently holds 100 of parliaments 349 seatsA new leader for the Social Democratic Party is to be elected at a party congress being held Nov 37 and that person then must be confirmed as prime minister by the parliament according to Swedens ConstitutionEarlier this year Lofven resigned after losing a confidence vote and called on the countrys parliamentary speaker to try to form a new government instead of holding an early election He was able to form a government that was the same as the previous oneAfter the 2018 election Sweden had a deadlocked parliament because no one wanted to cooperate with the Sweden Democrats a rightwing populist party that is considered extreme It took four months of negotiations to produce a government that Lofven presented in January 2019This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever