Sweden heads into final stretch before key election

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.

Outgoing Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was hoping for a renewed mandate to “make Sweden great again”, he told Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of a campaign rally, in a nod to US President Donald Trump’s catchphrase.

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’s general election, 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 Kristersson’s outgoing government.

He said he wanted Kristersson to continue focusing on curbing the organised crime plaguing the country.

For their part, the centre-left Social Democrats – which governed for the better part of the 20th century and remain Sweden’s biggest party – have pledged to help struggling households pay bills and bolster the welfare state.

Jenny Larsson, a theatre worker who turns 54 on election day, said these issues mattered.