SWEDEN-ELECTION/VOTING/CAMPAIGNING Last minute campaigns as Sweden in midst of voting

Record ID: 347201

  • Title: SWEDEN-ELECTION/VOTING/CAMPAIGNING Last minute campaigns as Sweden in midst of voting
  • Date: 14th September 2014
  • Summary: SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER FREDRIK REINFELDT, LIBERAL PEOPLE'S PARTY LEADER JAN BJORKLUND, LEADER OF THE CENTRE PARTY ANNIE LOOF AND GORAN HAGGLUND OF THE CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATS
  • Embargoed: 29th September 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sweden
  • Country: Sweden
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4BMVU6MQ82JBXIXYQ65STDUOQ
  • Story Text: With only hours to go before the polls close, the Swedish prime minister and opposition leader continued campaigning in Stockholm on Sunday (September 14).
    Prime Minister and leader of the centre-right Alliance, Fredrik Reinfeldt, and leader of the centre-left opposition, Stefan Lofven, spent the afternoon addressing potential voters in the city centre after having cast their own votes.
    Polls showed the opposition heading for a narrow election victory, on a platform of increased spending on job schemes, healthcare and schools after eight years of tax cuts under the Alliance.
    Many Swedes are worried that reforms under the Alliance government have gone too far, weakening healthcare, allowing business to profit from schools at the expense of results and dividing a nation that has prided itself on equality into haves and have-nots.
    But a splintered opposition has failed to tap into voter unease and is unlikely to win a clear majority in parliament.
    Johanna Hallberg, who voted at the Central Station, said she hoped for a change.
    "I hope that there will be a switch, yes I hope, so that we are going to makes some differences," she said.
    The Social Democrats, the largest single party and polling around 30 per cent, hope to rule with the Green Party. But even if opinion polls are born out, they are likely to rely on winning support from the Left Party and possibly smaller parties in the Alliance to form a government. Negotiations could be hard and protracted.
    "So I think the left parties will probably have the most votes but I don't think they will have the majority so I think we will have kind of an interesting situation going to work tomorrow and see what's going to happen with this country," Lars Grans said.
    The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats may hold the balance of power but other parties refuse to work with them.
    Jessica Christensen and Lars Porad said the success of the Sweden Democrats was worrying.
    "That's the worrying part of this election. But I'm afraid that they will get quite a high stake in this election," Porad said.
    One poll late on Saturday put the gap between the centre-left and the four-party Alliance government at just 3 percentage points.
    The polling stations close at 1800 GMT.
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