SWEDEN: Sweden's centre-right opposition appeared to be on course for victory in yesterday's general election after exit polls gave it a narrow lead over the Social Democrats, who have governed for 65 of the past 74 years.
Supporters of the four-party Alliance for Sweden cheered as the polls predicted that it would win 49.7 per cent of the vote. This would give the party 182 seats in the 349-seat parliament.
The Social Democrats and their two allies on the left were on course to win 45.6 per cent, which would give them 167 seats.
Fredrik Reinfeldt, the centre- right's candidate for prime minister, appeared to have performed particularly strongly.
His Moderate party was predicted to have increased its share of the vote by 11.3 points. The Social Democrats vote was predicted to fall by 5.6 points.
The Alliance for Sweden had earlier broken with tradition by going out and campaigning on election day with a final push to unseat the Social Democrats. Mr Reinfeldt, who had embarked on a walkabout in Stockholm with the other leaders of his four-party alliance, said his side was taking nothing for granted.
"The last few days we've noticed Swedish people have turned more to us," said Mr Reinfeldt (41), the leader of the Moderate party, who handed voters flowers in the alliance's trademark orange. "But there is always suspense on balloting day, one never knows how it's going to go." All sides believed they were in with a fighting chance.
The Alliance for Sweden has led most polls for months, but the Social Democrats had pinned their hopes on the 20 per cent of undecided voters.
Goran Persson (57), the Social Democrat prime minister since 1994, admitted earlier in the day that he had a fight on his hands. "My feeling is that it is even and that we have a very good chance to win this, but it's going to be tough." The election is seen as a defining moment in recent Swedish history. The Social Democrats have presided over high rates of growth and low rates of unemployment which have made Sweden the envy of the EU.
The economy grew at an annual rate of 5.6 per cent in the second quarter of 2006, and unemployment stands at 6per cent, one of the lowest in Europe.
While many EU leaders have held up Sweden's much vaunted "social model" as an example for Europe, Mr Reinfeldt has tapped into growing unease about the future.
Many Swedes feel that the true unemployment rate is closer to 20 per cent because people on long-term sick leave are counted as working.