(FILES) In this file photo taken on December 13, 2018 Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven arrives in Brussels for a European Summit aimed at discussing the Brexit deal, the long-term budget and the single market. – Sweden’s four-month political vacuum looks set to end on January 18, 2019 when lawmakers elect Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to a second term, after he elbowed out the far-right to save one of Europe’s few left-wing governments. (Photo by ludovic MARIN / AFP)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Sweden ended a four-month political vacuum Friday when lawmakers elected Prime Minister Stefan Lofven to a second term, after he elbowed out the far-right to save one of Europe’s few left-wing governments.
Lofven’s new minority center-left government — comprising his Social Democrats and the Greens — won the backing of the Centre and Liberal parties, until now members of the four-party centre-right opposition Alliance.