No-confidence vote fails
A vote of no-confidence in Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, head of the minority government, failed on January 20, as widely expected. The Sweden Democrats called for the vote the week before when Löfven reached a deal in December with the center Alliance to exclude the anti-immigration party from influence in parliament. Only 45 of the parliament's 349 members supported the motion. Of the remaining lawmakers, 133 voted to reject the proposal, 155 abstained and 16 were absent. The Sweden Democrats have 49 seats. Votes of non-confidence are very unusual in Swedish politics. This was only the sixth ever and none have succeeded.