Close race in Sweden as hard right eyes role in government
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised cabinet jobs for the Sweden Democrats, but the rival left-wing bloc has a narrow lead in the polls.
Sweden faces a tight contest as the hard right seeks a place in government
Magdalena Andersson is just ahead of Ulf Kristersson as the favourite to become Sweden's prime minister
Sweden's left- and right-wing political blocs are locked in a close battle in Sunday's general election, with current conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson promising cabinet posts for hard-right allies if he stays in office.
The latest polls indicate a slim advantage for the left bloc, which is supporting the Social Democrats' Magdalena Andersson to return to power.
Kristersson has governed with backing from the hard-right Sweden Democrats (SD), a party with neo-Nazi roots.
National security, gang crime and welfare spending are among the main issues, but the possibility of the anti-immigration SD entering government could also shape the result.
In Sweden, politics is divided into two main blocs — four parties on the right and four on the left — so coalition and minority governments are familiar to Swedes.
More than eight million people are eligible to vote in the election for Sweden's Riksdag.
A poll released on Friday and commissioned by Swedish news service Ekot puts the left-wing bloc on 50.8% of the vote, compared with 47.6% for the right-wing bloc, a margin of 3.2%.
The centre-left Social Democrats, who have promised greater public spending, are leading the polls with 28.6%, while on the right the Sweden Democrats trail them on 18.3%, according to the Ekot survey.
Other opinion polls published on Friday also showed the left-wing bloc ahead.
The Social Democrats have frequently led Swedish governments since World War Two and have been the country's dominant political force for much of the past century.
By contrast, the SD, founded by Nazi sympathisers in the 1980s, were shunned by the mainstream for decades.
Vote counting will begin on Sunday evening and continue on Monday
But the 2022 election marked a turning point
, with the SD becoming Sweden's second-largest party after a campaign centred on immigration and violent crime.
Since then, they have provided outside support to the current centre-right coalition
, which has carried out a sharp tightening of migration policy, including ending permanent residency for refugees and increasing deportations. However, the party's MPs have never held ministerial positions.
The Sweden Democrats have faced controversy during this election campaign, including claims that a party official spread pro-Russian messages on social media.
Kristersson has said the official should be dismissed if the allegations prove true, while SD leader Jimmie Åkesson said the party was investigating the claims.
Nicholas Aylott, associate professor of political science at Södertörn University, told the BBC that the party entering government "would be another big step in the normalisation of the party", but added that it was not the main issue for voters.
"That said, it might still be important for the election outcome," he said.
Aylott said some voters who might otherwise support centre-right parties could switch to the opposition because they are deterred by the prospect of SD ministers.
Although he believed the number would be small, "they might just tip the balance against the incumbent right-wing bloc", he said.
This weekend's election comes a week after Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came close to winning a majority in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt.
They topped the poll with almost 44% of the vote, and their local leader Ulrich Siegmund says he is in talks with another party and other MPs in the hope of taking control of parliament.