On Monday, Sweden’s long-embattled Social Democratic prime minister, Stefan Löfven, lost a no-confidence vote in parliament. With the country’s politics increasingly fractured and unstable, this should not come as a particular surprise. Prime minister since 2014, Löfven has headed a weak minority government since the fall 2018 general election returned a hung parliament.

What has surprised many observers, both inside and outside the country, is the nature and timing of this defeat. While the motion was put to parliament by the far-right Sweden Democrats, it was the country’s socialist Left Party that cast the deciding vote against Löfven’s administration. The issue at stake: housing. Or rather, the government’s refusal to withdraw its proposal to remove rent controls on new housing stock.

Without doubt, the Left Party’s decision is fraught with risks. It has pushed the country into profound political uncertainty — and even brought forward the possibility of a coalition between the center-right and far-right. But while that is clearly regrettable, taking a stand on this issue was also a necessity for the Left Party. Its move offers a unique, if perilous, opportunity to preserve the Swedish housing model — and, more fundamentally, shift the public political debate away from immigration and towards social justice.