Voters in Sweden were casting ballots yesterday in national elections predicted to give the center-right opposition the best chance in 12 years of ousting the Social Democratic government that has seen support waning despite strong economic growth.
Polling stations opened at 7am. First results were expected within hours of polls closing at 7pm.
Polls on the eve of the balloting showed the four-party alliance led by Fredrik Reinfeldt with a slight edge over Prime Minister Goran Persson's Social Democrats and its two supporting parties in what promised to be a tight race.
"It's going to be a photo finish," Persson said during last-minute campaigning on Saturday.
After 10 years in power, Persson, 57, is the EU's second longest-serving prime minister after Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker. But this year, he faces his strongest challenge yet from the center-right bloc, which is campaigning on a common platform for the first time.
While Persson says Sweden's social model -- a market economy blended with a high-tax welfare state -- is at stake, the opposition insists it would not dismantle the system but help it survive by promoting jobs over welfare handouts.
According to a survey released late on Saturday by pollster Synovate Temo, the opposition had clear lead with 50.8 percent, compared with 43.9 percent for the Social Democrats and their allies. About 1,700 people were interviewed in the survey conducted from last Wednesday to last Sunday, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Reinfeldt warned supporters not to take victory for granted.
"Don't believe the opinion polls. Persuade neighbors and friends to go vote," Reinfeldt, 41, was quoted as saying by Swedish news agency TT.
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