STOCKHOLM: Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven replaced two ministers on Thursday in a scandal over the leaking of sensitive data, trying to contain the damage and stave off an early election.
Faced with a political crisis over a botched IT outsourcing deal, Lofven sacrificed his interior and infrastructure ministers rather than step down or call a snap vote more than a year ahead of schedule.
But he retained Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist, defying opposition parties who had pressed for the removal of all three ministers. The opposition parties said in a statement they would press ahead with a motion of ** confidence in Hultqvist.
If they win that vote, Lofven will have to remove him, which would leave the premier seriously weakened. Although he insisted that he would **t step down, Lofven finds himself struggling to preserve his mi**rity left-green government in a fragmented political landscape where the far-right, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats hold the balance of power. However, he won some breathing space when the four-party opposition Alliance bloc said it would seek the confidence vote only after the summer break.
07-29-2017, 02:55 AM
Swedish PM axes ministers in data scam
STOCKHOLM: Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven replaced two ministers on Thursday in a scandal over the leaking of sensitive data, trying to contain the damage and stave off an early election.
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