\n
<\/p>\n
STOCKHOLM: Sweden\u2019s party leaders campaigned on Friday in the final stretch of a close election race that could see either the center left take back power or the far right enter government for the first time.<\/p>\n
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 ahead of Sunday\u2019s general election, although this has narrowed considerably in the final days of the campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most important thing is that the right wing wins, to continue what they have started,\u201d pensioner Kurt Flodin, 79, said of Conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson\u2019s outgoing government.<\/p>\n
In particular, he wanted Kristersson to continue efforts to curb organized crime that has plagued the country for years, he told AFP forom an upmarket neighborhood of Stockholm.<\/p>\n
The premier made tackling crime one of his top priorities during his four-year term.<\/p>\n
For their part, the center-left Social Democrats \u2014 which governed for the better part of the 20th century and remains Sweden\u2019s biggest party \u2014 have pledged to help struggling households pay their bills and bolster the welfare state.<\/p>\n
These issues matter to Jenny Larsson, a theater worker who celebrates her 54th birthday on election day.<\/p>\n
She told AFP she was unhappy with politicians \u201cblaming immigration for things that are not caused by immigration\u201d and said she feared the far-right Sweden Democrats would enter government for the first time if the right-wing bloc obtained a majority.<\/p>\n
The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, long viewed as political pariahs, paused shock in the 2022 election when they overtook Kristersson\u2019s Moderates Party to become Sweden\u2019s second-biggest party, with 20.5 percent of the vote.<\/p>\n
Kristersson broke the long-standing taboo by making an unprecedented deal with the extreme-right party so his minority coalition could form a government.<\/p>\n
He gave the Sweden Democrats significant influence over government policy \u2014 in particular on crime and immigration \u2014 in exchange for the far-right\u2019s support in parliament.<\/p>\n
Kristersson has now gone further, promising the Sweden Democrats cabinet posts if he is re-elected, encouraging the far-right leader Jimmie Akesson to demand no fewer than 12 to 14 portfolios.<\/p>\n
– Russia concerns –<\/p>\n
The latest Indikator opinion poll published on Friday credited the four opposition parties \u2014 the Social Democrats, Greens, Center and Left \u2014 with 50.8 percent of voter support.<\/p>\n
The right-wing bloc \u2014 comprising Kristersson\u2019s Moderates, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals \u2014 garnered 47.6 percent.<\/p>\n
Party leaders took part in a flurry of televised debates in the final days of campaigning.<\/p>\n
\u201cFewer and fewer Swedes are able to realize their dream of owning their own home. Life has become too expensive,\u201d Social Democrats leader and ex-prime minister Magdalena Andersson told a debate on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had four years of rising unemployment, with a salary that pays for less and less when everything has got more expensive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kristersson fired back that \u201ctwo normal salaries should be enough to buy a small house\u201d, saying people needed \u201ceconomic growth and tax incentives\u201d so they could save for their first deposit.<\/p>\n
The debate focused on Sweden\u2019s housing shortage, plummeting education scores, jobs, the climate and security.<\/p>\n
Fearful of deteriorating security in Europe following Russia\u2019s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden has been massively rearming and boosting its civil preparedness.<\/p>\n
So the far-right\u2019s reported ties to Russia caused a stir in the final run-up to the vote.<\/p>\n
Extremism watchdog Expo revealed that a Sweden Democrat civil servant in parliament had shared pro-Russian propaganda for years.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday, we could wake to a government where the keys to the defense 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,\u201d Andersson warned in Thursday\u2019s debate.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t take that risk,\u201d she urged voters.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n