Sawt Falasteen - Party leaders trade barbs before Swedish election

While most countries in Europe are led by right-wing governments, opinion polls have for months suggested the Scandinavian country could oust its conservative bloc backed by the far-right, though the left's lead has narrowed in the final days of the campaign.

The Social Democrats, Sweden's biggest party that ruled for the better part of the 20th century, have pledged to help struggling households pay their bills and bolster the welfare state.

"Fewer and fewer Swedes are able to realise their dream of owning their own home. Life has become too expensive. We've had four years of rising unemployment, with a salary that pays for less and less when everything has gotten more expensive," party leader Magdalena Andersson said during Thursday's debate.

"Two normal salaries should be enough to buy a small house. And for that you need economic growth and tax incentives so you can save for your first deposit," conservative Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson retorted.

The leader of the far-right Sweden Democrats, Jimmie Akesson, meanwhile insisted jobless immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the country.

"This group of people... who come from other parts of the world, who aren't employable on the Swedish labour market, they need to either get a job or leave the country," he said.

Kristersson came to power in 2022 after his minority coalition reached an unprecedented deal giving the far-right influence over government policy in exchange for its support in parliament.

Long viewed as political pariahs, the Sweden Democrats are now the second-biggest party, polling around 20 percent.

If the right-wing were to win the election, Kristersson has vowed to give the far-right cabinet posts for the first time.

Akesson would likely be given the post of migration minister, and he has demanded that his party hold several other key portfolios.

"On Monday we could wake to a government where the keys to the defence ministry will be handed over to the Sweden Democrats, and that is a party that has been revealed to be infiltrated by friends of Putin. Don't take that risk," Andersson urged Swedes.

Akesson criticised her for dropping "to that level."

- Fragmented left-wing -

Marja Lemne, political scientist at Sodertorn University, told AFP the election outcome remained "very open".

"The Social Democrats are losing ground," she noted, even though the late stages of the campaign were dominated by traditional left-wing issues, notably healthcare, schools and benefits.

The right-wing has meanwhile vowed to continue its crackdown on crime and immigration, slash income taxes and abolish pre-school fees.

The latest opinion poll on Wednesday credited the four parties on the left -- the Social Democrats, Greens, Centre and Left -- with 50.7 percent of voter support.

The right-wing bloc, made up of Kristersson's Moderates, the Sweden Democrats, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, were credited with 48.1 percent.

Despite the left's lead, "it's very unclear what a (left-wing) government formation would look like. It's very fragmented and there are a lot of different views," Lemne noted.

Andersson needs the support of all three other left-wing parties to build a majority, and is willing to negotiate with all of them.

But the agrarian Centre Party has ruled out sitting in a government with the formerly communist Left Party because of ideological and economic differences.

Even the Social Democrats would have a hard time welcoming the Left into government for the same reason -- especially after media reports that Left party candidates allegedly spread antisemitic propaganda and praised the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The fate of Kristersson's bloc meanwhile depends in part on the small Liberal Party, which is struggling to reach the four percent support required for representation in parliament.

H.Darwish--SF-PST