Stefan Löfven said on Sunday that after seven years in power, he will resign as prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party in November.
The unexpected announcement made in his annual summer speech was made before next year’s general election and after Löfven became the first Swedish leader ever to lose a motion in Parliament in June.
Levin, who came to power in October 2014, stated that he had informed the party that “I would like to resign as the chairman of the party at the party congress in November, and then also demand to be removed from the post of prime minister”.
He said that as prime minister and leader of the Social Democratic Party “have spent wonderful years.”
“But everything has an end, and I want to give my successor the best conditions,” said the 63-year-old.
Stepping down is “not easy, but correct,” Löfven said, adding that “it’s also a bit sad”.
It is unclear who will succeed Löfven.
Since 2012, he has been the leader of Sweden’s largest party, the Social Democratic Party, which holds 100 seats out of 349 seats in Parliament. The party has no obvious replacement for Löfven, but the Swedish news agency TT pointed to Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson as a possible candidate.
According to the Swedish Constitution, the new leader of the Social Democratic Party will be elected at the party congress from November 3rd to 7th, and then this person must be confirmed by the parliament as prime minister.
Earlier this year, Löfven resigned after losing a vote of confidence and called on the speaker of the country’s parliament to try to form a new government instead of holding an early election. He was able to form a bipartisan coalition government the same as the previous one.
After the 2018 general election, the Swedish parliament fell into a deadlock because no one wanted to cooperate with the Swedish Democratic Party, which is regarded as an extreme right-wing populist party. Löfven proposed a government in January 2019 and it took four months of negotiations.
Sweden’s next general election will be held on September 11, 2022.
