Sweden's centre-right government and the opposition bloc are running neck and neck ahead of a general election on Sept. 19, an opinion poll showed on Saturday, according to Reuters. Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's four-party "Alliance" government was supported by 48.1 percent of the voters surveyed. The "red-green" opposition bloc of centre-left parties had 46.7, the poll by SKOP showed. However, the SKOP poll showed support for two parties in the ruling alliance -- the Christian Democrats and the Centre Party -- was below the 4 percent threshold for entry into parliament. "This (the result) gives both blocs reason for concern in the run-up to the election," SKOP analyst Birgitta Hultaker said. "It is impossible to tell what the result would be." In the previous SKOP poll, the government was supported by 45.3 percent of those polled and the opposition by 50.4. Saturday's SKOP poll, of 1,100 voters conducted between May 31 and June 15, showed the Social Democrats, who had held power for most of the post-war period, as the biggest losers. Their backing fell 3.3 percentage points since the previous poll in May to 30.4. The biggest gainers were the Moderates, up 3.7 percentage points at 34.0 percent. SKOP said the margin of error for support for the two parties was 4 percent. The poll is one of a number in recent weeks that has indicated that the four-party government alliance has pulled up alongside or even ahead of the opposition after having lagged almost since it came to power. In 2006, the four-party centre-right alliance replaced the Social Democrats promising that tax cuts would lead to more jobs and help preserve the country's much-cherished welfare state. Unemployment has soared, but Sweden's public finances are in better shape than any other country in the European Union and the government has said there is room for more spending measures to stimulate the economy. Following is a table of opinion poll results: Bloc standings: Red-Green opposition Government parties 19/6 SKOP 46.7 48.1 09/6 Novus/TV4 46.4 47.0 28/5 DN/Synovate 46.5 48.3 24/5 SKOP 50.4 45.3 16/5 SIFO 49.3 46.2 12/5 Novus/TV4 47.5 46.5 06/5 Demoskop 47.4 49.2 30/4 DN/SYNOVATE 51.3 43.1 2006 election 46.1 48.2 Individual party standings: DATE INSTITUTE SDP G L M F C CD SD 19/6 SKOP 30.4 11.0 5.3 34.0 6.7 3.8 3.6 3.5 09/6 Novus/TV4 31.5 9.9 5.0 32.1 5.7 5.2 3.9 4.8 28/5 DN/Synovate 32.5 8.8 5.2 31.8 7.2 4.7 4.6 3.4 24/5 SKOP 33.7 10.9 5.8 30.3 6.0 5.0 4.0 2.9 16/5 SIFO 34.3 10.7 4.3 30.9 6.7 5.1 3.5 3.5 12/5 Novus/TV4 33.6 8.3 5.6 31.2 6.3 4.9 4.1 4.6 06/5 Demoskop 33.8 8.8 4.8 30.6 9.0 4.2 5.4 2.1 30/4 DN/Synovate 35.1 10.6 5.6 28.8 5.9 4.6 3.8 4.0 2006 election: 35 5.2 5.9 26.2 7.5 7.9 6.6 2.9 NOTE: SDP = Social Democrats, lead Left-Green opposition bloc G = Green Party, environmentalist allies of the SDP L = Left Party, former Communist Party, allies of SDP M = Moderates, largest in centre-right coalition government F = Folk Liberals, junior member of coalition government C = Centre, junior member of coalition government CD = Christian Democrats, smallest in opposition alliance SD = The Swedish Democrats, far-right, anti-immigrant Parties require 4.0 percent of the vote to gain representation in parliament.
