Sweden's government on Tuesday averted a political crisis, after it clinched a last-minute deal to ensure its justice minister survived a no-confidence vote in parliament.
The deal stems from winning the support of an independent lawmaker who is determined that Stockholm does not cave into Turkish conditions for supporting Sweden's bid to join NATO.
The potential crisis came just three months ahead of general elections and less than a year after the Social Democratic government was toppled and then returned to power within weeks.
The no-confidence vote held on Tuesday was launched by the far-right Sweden Democrats who accuse Justice Minister Morgan Johansson of failing to stem rising gang violence.
Sweden has struggled to reduce the shootings and bombings that have plagued the country in recent years, usually due to gangland rivalries or organised criminals battling over the drug market.
"We have reached a point where the single most important crime policy measure is to give Morgan Johansson an early retirement," Sweden Democrat MP Henrik Vinge told parliament last week.
Supported by the conservative Moderate Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democrats, 174 of 349 MPs voted for the motion, one short of the absolute majority needed to oust the minister.
Of the remaining, 97 voted against, 70 abstained and eight were absent.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, who became Sweden's first woman premier when she took over the reins in November, had said she would resign if a no-confidence vote passed against Johansson, saying all government decisions were made collectively.
Assurances on Turkey
With one vote missing, the situation hinged on parliamentarian Amineh Kakabaveh, a former Left Party member sitting in parliament as an independent since 2019.
Kakabaveh, who is of Iranian-Kurdish origin, has become a focal point in Swedish politics over Turkey's opposition to Stockholm's bid to join NATO.
Ankara accuses Stockholm of providing a haven for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), listed as a "terrorist" group by Turkey and its Western allies, and has demanded the extradition of people it considers extremists and the lifting of a weapons embargo.
Kakabaveh, who has no direct political link to the PKK, had sought assurances that the ruling Social Democrats would not cave in to Turkish demands, saying otherwise she would vote against Johansson.
Kakabaveh said Tuesday she had received the assurances she wanted and therefore abstained.
Speaking in parliament, Kakabaveh said her main concern was protecting Swedish sovereignty against the influence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whom she accused of being "authoritarian" and "operating a racist policy against Kurds".
"Should we adapt our freedom of expression and assembly to Erdogan's demands?" she asked fellow lawmakers.
Last November, Kakabaveh and the government agreed that she would provide the deciding vote to bring the cabinet into power in exchange for deeper cooperation with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the political arm of the YPG.
The People's Protection Units (YPG), is a US-backed Syrian Kurdish group that Ankara considers a "terrorist" offshoot of the PKK.
The Social Democratic government confirmed Tuesday the deal was still in force, implying it was prepared to stand up to Erdogan's demands.
Meanwhile, the Sweden Democrats lamented the focus on Turkey.
"The past few days, Turkish foreign policy has been allowed to dictate Swedish domestic affairs. It's a sad spectacle that we have been forced to witness", Vinge said in parliament.