Stockholm, Sept 11 (V7N) – Sweden's party leaders campaigned on Friday in the final stretch of a close election race that could see either the centre-left take back power or the far-right enter government for the first time, as polls showed the opposition left-wing bloc holding a narrow lead ahead of Sunday's general election.
While Europe is dominated by right-wing governments, opinion polls in Sweden have for months shown the opposition left-wing bloc holding a strong lead, although this has narrowed considerably in the final days of the campaign.
"The most important thing is that the right wing wins, to continue what they have started," pensioner Kurt Flodin, 79, said of Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's outgoing government. He wanted Kristersson to continue efforts to curb organised crime that has plagued the country for years.
The centre-left Social Democrats—which governed for much of the 20th century and remains Sweden's biggest party—have pledged to help struggling households pay their bills and bolster the welfare state. Jenny Larsson, a theatre worker who celebrates her 54th birthday on election day, said she was unhappy with politicians "blaming immigration for things that are not caused by immigration" and feared the far-right Sweden Democrats would enter government for the first time.
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, long viewed as political pariahs, caused shock in the 2022 election when they overtook Kristersson's Moderates Party to become Sweden's second-biggest party with 20.5 percent of the vote. Kristersson broke the long-standing taboo by making an unprecedented deal with the extreme-right party so his minority coalition could form a government, giving them significant influence over policy on crime and immigration.
Kristersson has now gone further, promising the Sweden Democrats cabinet posts if re-elected, encouraging far-right leader Jimmie Akesson to demand 12 to 14 portfolios.
The latest Indikator opinion poll published on Friday credited the four opposition parties—the Social Democrats, Greens, Centre and Left—with 50.8 percent of voter support. The right-wing bloc—comprising Kristersson's Moderates, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals—garnered 47.6 percent.
Fearful of deteriorating security in Europe following Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden has been massively rearming and boosting civil preparedness. The far-right's reported ties to Russia caused a stir in the final run-up to the vote. Extremism watchdog Expo revealed that a Sweden Democrat civil servant in parliament had shared pro-Russian propaganda for years.
"On Monday, we could wake to a government where the keys to the defence ministry will be handed over to the Sweden Democrats. And that is a party that has been revealed to be infiltrated by friends of Putin," Social Democrat leader Magdalena Andersson warned in Thursday's debate. "Don't take that risk," she urged voters.
While the four opposition parties hold a slim lead, they are splintered ideologically and thorny negotiations would be needed to form a government even if they hold a majority.
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