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.

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 no 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 not step down, Lofven finds himself struggling to preserve his minority 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.