Sweden heads to the polls on Sunday in a tight general election that could see the left-wing opposition oust the government after a campaign dominated by concerns over healthcare and the welfare state amid fears over Europe’s security, Euronews reported.
***
Opinion polls have pointed to a victory for the centre-left opposition headed by the Social Democrats.
But Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s centre-right coalition and its parliamentary ally, the anti-immigration Sweden Democrats, have narrowed the gap in the final weeks of campaigning and the election could go down to the wire, experts say.
“There’s still a bit of suspense. But all the polls have for a long time shown a very large lead and it’s usually difficult to make up that much ground,” Stockholm University political scientist Jan Teorell told the AFP news agency.
Three polls in the past week credited the four parties on the left with around 50% and the four on the right with around 47%.
The right-wing bloc has vowed to pursue its crackdown on crime and immigration, after years of shootings and bombings linked to organised crime networks.
But the bloc has failed to muster the momentum that swept it to power four years ago.
“It came to power very much on a programme to bring down crime and energy prices. And crime and petrol prices have come down, so those issues no longer top voters’ agendas,” Teorell said.
