That was quick

Stefan Lofven's fall shows the strength of the far-right Sweden Democrats

IT WAS supposed to be the Swedish Social Democrats' triumphant return. But two months after forming a minority coalition government with the Greens, Stefan Lofven, the Social Democratic leader, has been forced to step down as prime minister. The four-party centre-right opposition alliance enlisted the support of the far-right, anti-immigrant Sweden Democrats to vote down his budget, pushing through a budget of its own instead. Mr Lofven might have let the other parties try to form a new government. But instead he plans to call an “extra” election on March 22nd.

But Sweden has never before had to contend with a far-right party that enjoys as much support as the Sweden Democrats. The party is the third-largest in parliament. Without its backing, neither the centre-right alliance nor a coalition of the Social Democrats, Greens and the small Left party commands a majority. Worse, a new election could see the Sweden Democrats grow stronger, although the absence on sick leave of their leader, Jimmie Akesson, may count against them. The Sweden Democrats say they blocked the government's budget because it failed to meet their goal of cutting immigration by some 90%. They also accused Mr Lofven of shutting them out of discussions on the budget and other issues.

Mr. Lofven fired back, calling the Sweden Democrats' actions “utterly irresponsible”. And he promised that, should he be asked to form a new government, he will continue to freeze them out. The centre-right alliance, he claimed, would let them have a voice. Before the budget vote, Mr Lofven forlornly appealed to the alliance parties to avoid a crisis and reject support for their budget plans from the Sweden Democrats. But after a late-night meeting on December 2nd, they refused to negotiate over a new budget.

Mr Lofven may go down as the shortest-lived elected prime minister in Swedish history, and his Social Democrats, already at an all-time low with the electorate, have lost more voter confidence. The larger questions are how much more the Sweden Democrats will transform a traditionally compromise-oriented political landscape and what happens if the March ballot produces a similar hung parliament. Mr Lofven seemed flummoxed by the far-right party's support for the alternative budget and by the alliance's unwillingness to negotiate, even though both had been well trailed. As a former trade unionist without political experience, he is used to consensus, not crisis.

But if Mr Lofven was surprised by the outcome,Sweden's election authority was not. Even as the politicians were arguing, it pragmatically ordered six million envelopes for paper ballots and began preparing for a new election. Swedish taxpayers will pay about 250m krona ($33m) for the privilege of going to the polls again.