Sweden Heads Into Close Election

Swedish opposition leader Fredrik Reinfeldt of the Moderate party speaks during his campaign rally Saturday Sept. 16, 2006 in Orebro, central Sweden. The general election will take place Sunday Sept. 17, 2006. (AP Photo/Scanpix Sweden/Dan Lindberg) (Dan Lindberg - AP)

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- A center-right alliance vowing to fine-tune Sweden's cherished welfare system has its best chance in 12 years Sunday to oust a Social Democratic government that has seen its support wane despite strong economic growth.

While Prime Minister Goran Persson maintains that Sweden's social model _ a market economy blended with a high-tax welfare state _ is at stake in the parliamentary elections, the opposition insists it is not seeking to dismantle the system.

Instead, the four-party alliance led by Fredrik Reinfeldt has said it will help the system survive by promoting jobs over welfare handouts.

Sweden is enjoying strong economic growth _ 5 percent in the second quarter compared to the European Union average of 2.8 percent _ but that does not appear to have given Persson's government a boost.

Reinfeldt accuses the government of failing to translate the growth into more jobs and claims the official unemployment rate of 5.7 percent is misleading. He said the figure is much higher _ 20 percent _ if you add people on sickness or disability leave or in government job-training programs.

While the opposition claims a failing state that lacks the ability to compete in a global marketplace, Social Democrats cite the social welfare system's attributes.

There's little poverty, education is free and health care is universal. Six-week vacations and 16 months of paid parental leave allow workers to combine jobs and family life.

The last pre-election polls show Reinfeldt's center-right alliance with a slight edge over Persson's Social Democrats and its two supporting parties in what promises to be a tight race.

Pollster Synovate Temo showed the opposition ahead with 49.7 percent compared to 45.3 for the Social Democrats and their two supporting parties. However, as many as 11 percent of the 1,600 people interviewed Tuesday to Thursday were undecided. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.

Three other surveys also gave a slim advantage to the alliance, but analysts said the election was still too close to call.

"It is still tight," said 41-year-old Reinfeldt, leader of the Moderates, the biggest party in the alliance. "But the figures show we can go into the end dash with good self-confidence. That, I hope, will give our campaign activists strength needed now at the end."

In last-minute campaigning Saturday, Persson said it looked like a "photo finish." The 57-year-old has been in office for 10 years _ the second-longest serving prime minister in the 25-nation European Union, after Luxembourg's Jean-Claude Juncker.