Swedish prime minister, Mr Goeran Persson survived a motion of no-confidence this evening after a late-night agreement gave him the legislative support needed to renew his center-left minority government.
The vote of 174 against a declaration of no-confidence, 158 in favor and 17 abstaining was along party lines as expected, with only the four non-socialist parties supporting the measure.
The environmentally minded Green Party, which held the balance of power with 17 seats in the 349-seat parliament, withheld its votes after agreeing late last night to an awkward co-operation with Mr Persson's party after two weeks of tough negotiations.
The Green Party had demanded a coalition government but said it would work within the framework of the cooperation agreement to change things.
"We have reached an agreement that means that the Green Party will be able to pursue an opposition policy in a number of areas" while assuring that "Sweden is governed in a reasonable way," party spokesman Mr Peter Eriksson said.
The deal focused on local issues and did not give the Greens the ministerial posts they sought, but it was heavy with policies friendly to the environment.
The main opposition Moderate Party called for the no-confidence motion after parliament convened Monday, citing an "uncertain situation" after the September 15th parliamentary elections.
AP