SWEDEN: Swedish prime minister Göran Persson and the centre-right opposition leader hoping to beat him in Sunday's election met advisers yesterday to prepare for a televised debate that could sway voters in the close contest.
New polls showed Sunday's election, which offers voters the choice between Mr Persson's view that Sweden's famous welfare state needs further funding and opposition proposals that both benefits and taxes be cut to boost employment, is set to be the hardest fought in decades.
Mr Persson's minority Social Democrat government, which rules thanks to parliamentary support from the Green Party and the Left Party (former communists), got some good news from falling jobless figures.
"He is getting pepped up for the debate," said a spokeswoman for Mr Persson (57), who has been in power for 10 years and said on Wednesday that he was ready for four more.
He has dismissed opinion poll findings which showed the opposition slightly ahead and predicts victory.
Mr Persson was due to meet his main challenger, Fredrik Reinfeldt (41), the leader of largest opposition party the Moderates, along with the leaders of five other parties last night in a televised debate. It was to be the penultimate clash, with one more on the national public channel today.
Mr Persson's left-of-centre bloc is facing an alliance of the Moderates, the Folk Party Liberals, the Centre Party and the Christian Democrats. They hope to retake the power they last held under Carl Bildt between 1991 and 1994.
A spokesman for Mr Reinfeldt said he would take part in a radio debate and then prepare for the televised contest.
"Super thriller," is how Sweden's largest daily Aftonbladet described the election, pointing to conflicting poll findings. Two new surveys put the opposition ahead, while one gave Mr Persson and his allies the edge. Mr Persson in election rallies on Wednesday urged Social Democrat supporters to get out and vote, with analysts saying low turnout would hurt the veteran leader.
The Moderates, injecting urgency into their own campaign, have started a 100-hour countdown. "Time left to a government change: 79:22:27," the party said on its website. Mr Persson contends opposition tax and benefit reduction plans would undermine the Swedish social model built by his party.
Mr Reinfeldt, who has shifted his party to the centre, says he wants to fine-tune the welfare model to make it more work-friendly and has dubbed the Moderates the new workers' party. The opposition also hopes voters are ready for change after 12 years of Social Democrat rule, mostly under Mr Persson.
Mr Persson however can boast a strong economic track record, with growth in the second quarter hitting a six-year high.
New data yesterday showed unemployment falling to 5.7 per cent in August from 6 per cent the previous month. The opposition says the real jobless rate is 20 per cent and that official figures mask the truth.- (Reuters)