Polling stations opened Sunday in Sweden in what is expected to be a close general election that will see either the far right enter government for the first time or the left-wing opposition reclaim power.
Opinion polls have long credited the four parties in the left-wing bloc with a comfortable lead over conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s four-party alliance, which includes the far-right Sweden Democrats. But the gap narrowed to a dead heat in the final days of the campaign.
The leader of the opposition, Magdalena Andersson of the Social Democrats, which governed the Scandinavian country for the better part of the 20th century, has pledged to bolster the welfare state and help struggling households cope with rising costs if the four parties on the left win a majority on Sunday.
Outgoing conservative Prime Minister Kristersson has meanwhile vowed to focus on improving Swedes’ everyday lives now that his government’s clampdown on organized crime and immigration has achieved its intended results.
Kristersson has governed with the support of the far-right Sweden Democrats for the past four years, and has promised the anti-immigration party cabinet posts for the first time if the four parties on the right win the election.
Voting stations opened at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) and will close at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) when exit polls will be published, with the first reliable results expected several hours later.
Some eight million people are eligible to vote, in a country of 10.6 million where voter turnout regularly tops 80 percent. Around half of voters have cast their ballots in advance.
If the right-wing were to win the election, the formation of a new government would be fairly straightforward.
But the four left-wing parties are splintered ideologically and tough negotiations would be needed to form a government even if they hold a majority. (AFP)
